It's been four years since The Farrelly Brothers' forgettable remake of The Heartbreak Kid had it's brief run in the theaters, now we have a much funnier film called Hall Pass about Rick (Wilson) and Fred (Sudeikis) who are given a week off from marriage from their wives Maggie (Fischer) and Grace (Applegate). The week is anticipated to be one of the best weeks of their lives, but ends up being a slow and dull weekend of failed attempts to meet women. The Farrelly Brothers, I assume, are trying to make a point that when women separate from their men they have a lot of fun socializing, and having a rule-free week. When men separate from their wives their afraid to make the slightest commitment with a girl because of their wives' reaction. Even though they say "rule-free" we can pretty much all assume "rule-free within their guidelines." Owen Wilson and Jason Sudeikis have a very humorous chemistry on screen, and Christina Applegate is not only beautiful, but a pleasure to have assisting the leads as well. Knowing The Farrelly's you are sure to have a lot of gross out humor in this movie, and boy you do! Some hit hard, but some fall flat. My favorite character in this whole film is Larry Joe Campbell who plays Hog Head. He is without a doubt hysterical as he plays the dopey fat guy who gets into trouble along with the guys on their week off. He reminds me of my own father, and every scene he was in I found myself laughing. Too bad he didn't replace Sudeikis in the film so I could laugh more and give this film a higher rating, but oh well. The big problem with this film is not that not all the jokes are funny, that the drama element at the ends sort of ruins the outrageous comedy film the movie had going, but the fact that it's February and a movie like this is coming out. It's a strange complaint, but it must be stated, comedies like this are meant for the summer season or the fall season so that it has a bigger chance of making the top list of favorite comedies on critic's lists. This year especially with huge competition with The Hangover Part II being released. Hall Pass should've benefited itself by waiting till around August to be released. With it being released so early in the year it will likely suffer treatment like Book of Eli and Fired Up with being released so early they are questioned by people in later months. Hall Pass hits us with some very strong laughs, but ultimately it still doesn't blow us away. I would've liked more of the guys, less of the wives, and more of Larry Joe Campbell. You can't always get what you want, but in Hall Pass it delivers most of what you would want in an outrageous comedy.

Starring:

Owen Wilson, Jason Sudeikis and Christina Applegate

Genre:

Comedy