Starring: Owen Wilson, Jenna Fischer, Jason Sudeikis, Christina Applegate, Richard Jenkins
Written By: Peter Farrelly, Bobby Farrelly, Pete Jones, Kevin Barnett
Directed By: Peter Farrelly, Bobby Farrelly
Studio: New Line Home Entertainment
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The Farrelly Brothers were a comedy staple in the 90s but lately the movies they have made haven’t been on par with their earlier work. Hall Pass comes close to those movies, but still feels like something is missing from their style of earlier comedies.
Hall Pass is an unrealistic look at what if wives let their husbands get a hall pass from marriage for a week. The movie centers around two married couples. The first couple is Rick (Owen Wilson) and Maggie (Jenna Fischer) and the second couple is (Fred) Jason Sudeikis and Grace (Christina Applegate). Both couples are good friends and spend a lot of time together. The wives soon realize how piggish their husbands are, and how much they gawk & talk about other women. Both women get so pissed off at their husbands that they give them a “hall pass,” a week off of marriage. Which means they can be with anyone they want to be with for a week and the women won’t get upset over it. You can pretty much figure out what happens from there.
I had no expectations with Hall Pass but ended up liking it. I still feel like it could have been better but not sure in what areas. The acting isn’t the problem, but maybe it’s just the characters? Fred and Rick aren’t likable, and act like complete idiots. The film makes you try to feel for them a little but it just doesn’t work for me. That’s not to say this movie isn’t funny, it is. I particularly like when Rick and Fred hung out with their friends, and played golf with them. The funniest scenes in the movie involved Jason Sudeikis and a girl in a bathroom (this scene brought tears to my eyes) and a scene that happens in the end credits with Stephen Merchant. Merchant’s character tries to think of what would happen if he got a hall pass and the result is hilarious! There should have been more Stephen Merchant!
Hall Pass has your usual Farrelly Bros jokes about sex or drugs, even some shit jokes thrown in but I like that type of gross humor. I think if the characters were better, Hall Pass would have been a better comedy. This extended edition has a few scenes added back into the movie, but since this is the first time seeing it, I don’t know what they are. I would assume the extended cut is the better version. The Blu-Ray and DVD contains an additional scene and gag reel as well. This Farrelly Bros comedy is worth a look.
Features:
Outrageous Additional Scene – Coakley (Richard Jenkins) plays it cool with a cop
Hilarious Gag Reel
Digital Copy Of Feature Film
BD Live Enabled
Video:
Widescreen 2.40:1 Color
Screen Resolution:
1080p
Audio:
ENGLISH: DTS-HD MA 5.1
SPANISH: Dolby Digital 5.1
FRENCH: Dolby Digital 5.1
Subtitles:
English, Spanish, French
Bottom Line: A funny yet very unrealistic comedy
Running Time: 105 mins
Rating: R
Extras Rating:
Overall Rating: