When considering which living American directors have most squandered their potential, you have to put the Farrelly brothers somewhere near the top of the list. From the raunchy promise of Dumb and Dumber to the sleazy charm of Kingpin (most notable for Bill Murray shining in perhaps the most raw, untamed performance of his career) all the way out to the bizarre four-quadrant runaway success of There’s Something About Mary, they were on the way up. And then? Fizzle. Sputter. Crash. Something inexplicable happened that broke the Farrellys.
Hall Pass is the worst thing they’ve ever done, and they’ve done a lot of bad things. Ostensibly a romantic-yet-raunchy relationship comedy like There’s Something About Mary, it strikes all the wrong notes in terms of pacing, themes, humor, and filmmaking capability. Owen Wilson and Jason Sudeikis play a pair of sad-sack family men who are given “hall passes” from their wives (Jenna Fischer and Christina Applegate, respectively, both of whom deserve so much better), enabling them to take a week off from the responsibilities and commitments of marriage.
The men are basically horny boys in grown-up clothes who say offensive things and periodically vomit stereotypes onto the screen. Getting a hall pass is perfectly okay for the men, Sudeikis suggests, because all the women’s childhood dreams have come true—they have ovens, homes, and children, he says; what else could women possibly want?—while the men are living saintlike existences where their dreams are summarily crushed for the good of society. During their week of freedom, they have lame “adventures” that involve a hot Australian barista, pot brownies, and a whole bunch of product placement. Almost all the actors, save Sudeikis and a horribly squandered Stephen Merchant, are a Boehnerian shade of fake-tan orange, and not one real smile is on display anywhere in the too-long running time.
Somewhere deep in the middle of Hall Pass, Wilson is mocked by a hip urban barista for confusing the band Snow Patrol with the Cuba Gooding Jr. movie Snow Dogs. Wilson responds by giving a huffy speech on behalf of all the square, uncool “suburban guys” who get mocked by the trust-fund kids. These hipsters, Wilson says, live fake lives until their parents’ money runs out, whereupon they immediately become suburban dads themselves. And then guess who’ll be responsible for hiring these snarky young Turks when they come groveling for jobs as realtors and insurance agents? That’s right: Owen Wilson. It’s a strange speech that stops the movie dead for no good reason.
But hell, for all I know, maybe it’s a smart move on behalf of the Farrellys: Maybe theaters full of people in Nebraska and Kansas will stand up and cheer Wilson’s antiurban manifesto and take the Farrellys into their hearts as a pair of cornpone Woody Allens of the heartland. You can’t help but feeling, though, while Wilson is bloviating on behalf of the righteousness of the suburbs, that he’s a mouthpiece for the filmmakers, apologizing for the Farrellys’ lurch into mediocrity as they’re repeatedly shown up by the more nuanced, artful Apatows of the world. But the brothers can’t even muster their same old tricks anymore; during one of the two major gross-out scenes—it involves a sneeze, a thong, and diarrhea—someone in the preview screening audience I attended howled with laughter and actually shouted aloud, “Where do they come up with this stuff?” Presumably the same place they’ve been pulling this stuff out of for the last two decades, random moviegoing guy. And wherever that is, it sure does stink. 
“Snow Dogs” and Snow Patrol? Just how long has this movie been on the shelf?
Christina Applegate, if I were 100% hetero, I wouldn’t want a hall pass from a sex life with you.
@3: Yo.
@3, still can’t get a date while living in mom’s basement, I see.
I want to see a movie where the wives get hall passes. Putting up with those two in the back seat, the women in the front look like they need those hall passes more than the men!
Uhhh…why would a trust-fund kid bother with being a barista?
Ultimately, though, this conception of men is profoundly (though shallowly) dismissive of us…though I guess every group has its Living Stereotype types.
Heartland cheers? See Mark Ames on Spiteful-Americans.
whatsbeckgottadowithit spewed:
[ i can’t imagine anyone banging christina apple gate over the age of 19 . she’s over the hill in the style of sex in the city cougar class. especially with the missing breast (eeeeww).]
That has to be one of the rudest, unkind and ignorant remarks I’ve ever seen. God forbid anyone want to fk an old lady amputee, right? With an attitude like yours, the only way you’re getting any sex is with chloroform. Jerk.
Who the hell would think Owen Wilson is a good cast for a suburban dad-type character? But then I guess he’s getting a bit old to play the douchey womanizer and get away with it. And that is a horrible still for Jenna Fischer; I spent 10 seconds staring at it, thinking I was looking at Linda Hamilton.
You do know that for most baristas, that is their job, right, and they’re not doing it for fun?
As for the review, I totally agree, except for the random jab at Kansas/Nebraska. Clearly that’s where all the idiots live, right, and they’re there not b/c it’s their home, but b/c they simply *hate* urban places? Then I wonder, that guy who just loved the gross-out scene, was he from Seattle?
#12, it’s a barista’s job to mock their customers? Or to be urban hipsters? Because I thought their job was to STFU and make my fucking coffee.
Paul Constant, I think you might be reading a tad bit too much into Owen Wilson’s little speech (your urban hipster sensitivity is showing).
Also, Dumb and Dumber and King Pin were pretty much panned when they first came out.
Yeah, I know…I saw the trailer for this a while back and while there were one or two lines that were shocking (you laugh out of the sheer gall rather than out of humor), I knew from the preview that this movie was destined for some worst lists.
Too bad, too. I adore Jason Sudeikis and I’m surprised, frankly, that he’d do a picture like this – Farrelly or not.
Yes, I’m sure you have plenty of experience with women, Mr. Troll man.
Wow—there seems to be a lot of trolls and pigs running their fool mouths off lately.
@16: Any bozo who listens to the crapola Glenn Beck dishes out should be thrown out with the dishwater.
Do you have a little blowup Sarah Palin doll in your bedroom, too?
@3 – Venomlash. Thanks for the laugh. I hadn’t seen that one in a while.
Uh take it easy there, forever alone, you do know you’re on the stranger, right? Amputees are like, the hottest weirdest most fucked up fetish ever…which means we all think it’s awesome. Ladies with one boob are very popular in these parts, and get TONS of play. Know who doesn’t? Conservative trolls like you. You know that the 16 year old actresses you jack off to would never give you the time of day, right? (yup, she was 16 in married with children, pedo).
Just review the fucking movie! Nobody (but your own EGO) wants to read your two bit self-righteous rant/opinion. How fucking hard is it for the tools at The Stranger to write a simple movie review?
@21: Don’t flatter yourself, Mr. 2 1/2″ weenie-tot.
You’re not worth the time or trouble.
@24: “i’m married and i don’t cheat on the wife”
So you wear wedding rings on both your hands?
*sigh* you really don’t get it here, do you? If Grizzy were really a hag, she would get MORE play here. We love weird and crazy sex. The only thing you can do around here to ensure you don’t get fucked is using incorrect contractions and strange, non-standard punctuation.
Or do you need someone to explain how to work your blackberry ?
Reminds me of the old camera commercial that ran in the late 70s/early 80s. Don’t remember the make, but the said “works like your eye and opens up wide to get in as much light as possible” or some such nonsense.
The point is, they had two ads running: one directed to men (which showed a guy ogling pretty girls) and one directed to women (which showed a woman oohing and aahing over some baby).
When are they going to realize that women are motivated by the same things as men? Some ugly baby isn’t anything to make MY eyes open wide, and they lost my patronage.
You’d think they’d get over the sexism by now.