Hall Pass (2011): B-

Despite their gross-out reputation, Bobby and Peter Farrelly are conservative romantics at heart, a fact once again borne out by Hall Pass, the story of two horndog husbands who are given a week off from marriage by their frustrated wives. This deal strikes good-natured Rick (Owen Wilson) and slightly sleazier Fred (Jason Sudeikis) as a golden opportunity to finally act on the libidinous impulses that drive them to stare at every passing woman’s ass and chest, much to the chagrin of their respective spouses Maggie (Jenna Fischer) and Grace (Christina Applegate). Given such freedom, however, they prove not only incompetent at picking up women but increasingly lonely without their other halves, though the revelation that loyal, loving matrimony is preferable to meat-market clubs and one-night stands only comes after boys-night-out hijinks – pot brownie-fueled golfing, affairs with older women, drunken brawling and gunfights – that never quite rise to the humorous heights one expects. Nonetheless, as doofuses vainly attempting to convince themselves that they want their wildest dreams to come true, Wilson and Sudeikis make an amusingly goofy pair, even if their funniest moment comes during an early sequence in which their characters are overheard at a party (via a security camera) discussing the hosts’ genitals. That Maggie and Grace ultimately wind up grappling with their own fidelity is as predictable and bland as the last half-hour’s devolution into toothless sweetness. Still, the final line is a classic, recognizing as it does that nothing – not marriage, not love, not happiness – is worth enduring a live Kathy Griffin show.

Comments

[Dan O.]

Most won't think it's The Farrelly Bros. best comedy, and they'll be right but it got me laughing here and there and I'm glad I can say that about this one, and not about the terrible, The Heartbreak Kid. Good Review!