Hall Pass: Review

There was a time, and it seems like years and years ago, when The Farrelly Brothers were the kings of comedy film making. Their mix of bad taste and shock humour made movies like Dumb and Dumber, Kingpin and, of course, There's Something About Mary the funniest films of the 90s. Then they started to slide downwards with films like Shallow Hal, Stuck On You and now, finally hitting rock bottom with Hall Pass.

Rick is obsessed with sex but isn't getting anything from his wife. So she is advised to give him a hall pass, meaning he can have a week off his marriage in order to do what he liked. His best friend Fred is also given the same opportunity and the two men have a week of bachelorhood while their wives head off to the woods. Only thing is, it's been a long time since they were single and old age hasn't borne well for them. They struggle, until Rick meets Leigh, an Australian beauty working in a coffee shop. Will Rick take the plunge and go for a night with a blonde, or will he stay faithful to his wife, not known that the wives have met two men from a baseball team.

This is one of those films that has a terrific idea that just doesn't work. It's hard for me to know where to start. So let's try the premise. It just wouldn't happen. If you were married to Jenna Fischer, she of The American Office, you wouldn't be looking at other women. She is far to attractive and cute and sweet that you would feel you were sinning against an angel. Owen Wilson, with the worse hair you have ever seen, is far to straight-laced to even want to stray from the nest. Jason Sudeikis, as friend Fred, is a mix of all the dorky best friends from every comedy. He also has no idea of comic timing and his one best line is mumbled (about a certain sexual act) that every time he mentions it, which is quite a bit, you wonder what he is talking about until we get a demonstration.

The script is just not funny. I say it's not funny, there are moments when some of the lines did make me chuckle, like the best place to pick up women is Appleby's but it might get lost in translation in any country that doesn't have an Appleby's. Then there are the 'Farrelly' moments, those scenes that are far too excruciatingly disgusting it is hard to describe (one scene in which a woman says she has stomach pains and then there is an explosion behind her is typical Farrell but it seems so forced that it's just disgusting and not funny).

The film does spring to life when Richard Jenkins arrives as an ageing swinger who is an expert in picking up women but by that point we have sat through over an hour of limp gags and poorly executed set pieces. Stephen Merchant, as one of the men's friends does get the best scene but it comes during the credits and by that point, you are already leaving the cinema feeling very let down.

Don't be fooled by the adverts for this film. Like last year's god-awful Vampire Sucks, this is a film that has false advertising. The clips may look funny but in the confines of a whole film, it just isn't. Farrelly Brothers, either go back to making classic like Mary, or just give up, please.