Movie Review: ‘Hall Pass’

For a movie based entirely around sex, “Hall Pass” retains a certain—but not excessive—amount of grace and humility among similar movies. Owen Wilson and Jason Sudeikis make a perfect comedy match, with Wilson balancing out Sudeikis’s raunchy humor with his more restrained and mature style. Though many critics have been quite harsh on “Hall Pass,” it does certainly have several redeeming values.

Rotten Tomatoes, one of my more respected sources for movie criticism, awarded the fresh comedy with only a 37 percent on its Tomatometer. According to the website, “some filmgoers may be surprised by the Farrellys’ defense of traditional domestic values in Hall Pass. Unfortunately, they’ll probably also be dismayed by the absence of laughs.”

I disagree. I don’t remember laughing at a single movie in 2010 or yet in 2011 as hard as I did during “Hall Pass.” Granted, it was not “The Hangover,” but it was a valiant attempt by the movie’s production crew to present a twisted and clever story that ended up being only slightly to the left of those traditional values. Heck, audiences may even find it funnier than the highly-anticipated “Hangover Part II.”

The directors’ past movies have been exemplary failures in the comedy world, including flops like “Shallow Hal,” “Stuck on You,” “Me, Myself & Irene” and the half-decent “There’s Something About Mary.” Even those who didn’t care for “Hall Pass” can easily argue that it has a much funnier and better-constructed plot than past films. In fact, “Hall Pass” is undoubtedly a much stronger movie than any of the other comedies released so far in 2011 like “No Strings Attached” and “Just Go With It.”

Many married couples may even be able to find a lesson or two in “Hall Pass.” The idea comes from two best friends (Wilson and Sudeikis) whose wives (Jenna Fischer and Christina Applegate) have grown tired of their husbands’ playboy attitudes towards other women. So the wives give each of their husbands a week-long hall pass, which is a supposedly guilt-free week from marriage in which the husbands are allowed to chase floozy women as they please.

Though initially excited, the men soon find out that each of their domesticated lifestyles has made it much tougher to pick up women than back in the glory days. When I saw it, the entire audience was laughing at the men’s desperate struggles to adapt back to single life. Even the elderly couple behind me chuckled. There were even a few instances in the movie when I was laughing uncontrollably.

Given all of my praise for “Hall Pass,” I do recognize that it has some important downfalls. For example, moviegoers are certainly not flocking to the theater to see “Hall Pass” – it barely took the top spot in this weekend’s Box Office earnings over “Gnomeo and Juliet,” the animated comedy that was released two weeks prior to “Hall Pass.” This trend can most likely be attributed to the lewd humor that is associated with “Hall Pass.” The movie lends itself towards more male chauvinistic humor and is certainly not a family-oriented movie.

But considering  that “Hall Pass” was created knowing that many audiences would not appreciate the multitude of jokes about sex and genitalia, it seems to be intended mainly for the college-aged generation. For us, it may not be a good first date movie and it may challenge the strength of time-tested relationships, but would be a great boys’ or girls’ night out. If your midterms are getting you down or you just need a breather, go see “Hall Pass” with some friends to tide you over until 2011 finally delivers us some comedy gold. At the very least, you can walk away from the theater laughing and stuffed with popcorn.

Grade: B