Bobby Farrelly, USA, 106mins,2011
Cast: Owen Wilson, Jason Sudeikis, Jenna Fischer, Christina Applegate
Review by Matthew Rodgers
The latest comedy from sibling directors Peter and Bobby Farrelly proves one thing; the bottle from whence came the lightening that was There’s Something About Mary and personal genre favourite Dumb & Dumber is now well and truly empty. In fact, on the evidence of this laugh drought comedy they have broken through the glass at the bottom.
Bed fellows with the recent Adam Sandler clunker Just Go With It in terms of suspension of belief concepts, Hall Pass is the term given to a marriage in which it is agreed by the two parties that for one week only, one of them may have a break from the marriage. No rules, no confessions, and no comeuppance once the seven days have passed.
It’s a card dealt to Owen Wilson’s Rick, when his wife (played by The Office’s wonderful Jenna Fischer) grows tired of his wandering eye and immature japes with similar man-child, Fred (Jason Sudeikis), who has ridiculously also received the responsibility hiatus from his own other half, Grace (Christina Applegate). Cue for a week of woman, beer, and poker nights with his assorted buddies, one of whom is the always welcome Stephen Merchant, towards a journey of self discovery that is at best tedious, but often tortuous.
This may be stating the obvious but one of the fundamental keys to a successful comedy is the ability to make the audience laugh. Not every joke is going to resonate with each member of the audience; the problem here however is how significantly quiet the auditorium was during the screening of this film. The odd titter here, sometimes even from myself, but the overriding feeling was one of anticipation for laughs that never materialised. The days tick over on screen to indicate how far through the Hall Pass process we are and with each passing day you begin to hope that we are building up to a riotous slapstick finale, but it falls flat.
Perhaps the biggest indicator that even the Brothers themselves have forgotten to add any gags in amongst Wilson’s mid-life crisis self evaluation and Sudeikis massage parlour visits, is that they resort to a hilariously disgusting shower scene sneeze to generate the biggest laugh, whereas There’s Something About Mary managed to finely balance the gross-out stuff with the tender mechanics of a superb romantic comedy.
You would also expect better from the talent involved, and not only behind the . Wilson is on cruise control as the laid back family man and both Applegate and Fischer have no character development beyond the increasingly orange colour of their skin. Sudeikis emerges with some credit. Lines such as “do you think these napkins smell like chloroform?” as a pulling technique, go some way to making this the best Saturday Night Live breakout in a long time. And as for Stephen Merchant, his prominence on the poster is completely misleading. Charming he may be, but his impact is fleeting.
Apparently there is an added gag after the end credits have rolled. Unfortunately however the preceding hundred plus minutes had quashed my desire to sit through a list of people that had made such a piece of mediocrity, so even if it’s the best gag in the film, sorry, I missed it.
