So I decided to take a chance today and went to see the new Farrelly Brothers movie “Hall Pass”. I’m glad I did it, because I laughed my ass off. Well, not literally.
The movie tells the story of two guys very much like me – good husbands, one’s a good dad, both very loyal to their wives but very normal guys in that they check out other women. It gets to the point for the two main characters Rick (played with great sincerity by Owen Wilson) and Fred (played with joy by Jason Sudeikis) that their wives (played by Jenna Fischer and Christina Applegate) decide, at the suggestion of their psychiatrist friend Lucy, to give them a “hall pass” – a week off from marriage – and the “patheticness” ensues. The wives head out to Cape Cod with the kids, and the boys are left at home. They decide to get a hotel room, so it won’t be weird bringing all the chicks they’re going to bang home.
JB Smoove, Stephen Merchant, Danny Murphy and Larry Joe Campbell play their friends who are excited to watch the spectacle of these two bagging chicks – they’re looking for a chance to live vicariously through them, since their wives haven’t offered the same freedom. All four men are great foils for the main characters and you believe they’d genuinely hang out. They seem to really enjoy each others’ company – a nice touch. After three pathetic days of failure, they all quit on Rick and Fred. The story continues with slightly more success where Rick unexpectedly bonds with the super hot Australian girl who works at their favorite coffee place (played by Nicky Whelan). The guy who works there with her harbors quite the psycho crush, which plays itself out hilariously late in the movie. Richard Jenkins comes in later as their rich, single friend Coakley (the one that all their friends generally look up to for his ability to get women). He’s hilarious as the aging lothario…and earnest and encouraging to his friends who have been given quite the unique opportunity.
Like Jenkins, there are a bunch of people in the movie in smaller roles that you’ve seen elsewhere – character actors, some people who always pop up in the Farrelly brothers’ movies, and they all do a great job. Special mention must go to Alyssa Milano’s enormous fake boobs. Hey, it’s that kind of movie.
Since it’s the Farrelly brothers, you know it’s going to have its stupid moments and its gross moments, and they deliver. I won’t go into details – let’s just say they’re all pretty hilarious, no matter how gross or stupid.
A true return to form for the brothers Farrelly – I give this a “COOL”.