Before I get too far ahead of myself, let me explain to you why I am even giving this film even one star. It boils down to one actress: Nicky Whelan. You know, the barista from the trailers. The one the two idiots lustfully gawk at. Well, folks, she IS amazing to look at. Her cool blue eyes against her toffee-colored skin are perfectly eclipsed by a cascade of golden hair bleached by the Australian sun of her native soil. She’s a lovely scene stealer and her topless pay-off at the film’s episodic “climax” is the only reason – if you’re a red-blooded male – to sit through this trash of unfunny material that should have NEVER been recycled (yet again) by The Farrelly Brothers.
And then there’s the movie…
Simply put, this is the worst dick-joke filled “comedy” ever made by these bozos.
Starring Owen Wilson and Jason Sudeikis, Hall Pass is about two married sex-starved and ultimately unfunny schmucks (supposed to be representative of every husband in America) who are granted a “Hall Pass” from marriage because they are … publicly embarrassing and unsympathetic idiots. Turns out, that pass is more for their ridiculous wives, Jenna Fischer and Christina Applegate, who do all the flirty experimenting – and then get away with it – that the guys are too domestically idiotic to even attempt without inflicting dire consequences upon their own persons.
The predictable jokes are all recycled from other Farrelly Brothers movies. Don’t expect anything more than the very lowest of low-brow humor. Intelligence? None. These jokes are so horribly telescoped that you can spot them a mile away. Sometime two scenes ahead of when they actually occur – just like the script. There’s no heart. No meaning to it all – I mean, even Dumb and Dumber has some sort of lean meat to it. Not here. It’s just one long (about 90 minutes too long if you ask me) barrage of gross-out humor from a “comedic” team who whole-heartedly embraces the unfunny shenanigans of The Three Stooges and celebrates them with knock-off attempts to duplicate their unintelligent shtick.
Hall Pass isn’t an attempt to be anything but gross (consider that this is coming from a fan of Jackass). It’s awful and so painful to sit through that it makes trips to the dentist seem so very cloudlike and heavenly in comparison. Thankfully, it does not star the uber obnoxious and usual Farrelly Brother go-to schmuck Ben Stiller. No, instead we get Mr. Wilson – in the absolutely worst performance of his career – who is equally unfunny as Schmuck Number Two.
Oh well, there’s always the undressed Nicky Whelan to ogle…
MPAA Rating: R for crude and sexual humor throughout, language, some graphic nudity and drug use.
Director: Bobby Farrelly, Peter Farrelly
Writer: Pete Jones& Peter Farrelly; Kevin Barnett; Bobby Farrelly
Cast: Owen Wilson; Jason Sudeikas; Jenna Fischer; Christina Applegate; Nicky Whelan
Genre: Comedy
Memorable Movie Quote: "You can't help it if her butt walks where you're already looking"
Distributor: New Line Cinema
Official Site: hallpassmovie.warnerbros.com
Release Date: February 25, 2011
Blu-ray Release Date: June 14, 2011
From the dirctor's of There's Something About Mary, Hall Pass arrives onto blu-ray Combo Pack, DVD and Digital Download on June 14th. Find out what happens when two men are granted one week of freedom to indulge in their wildest fantasies in this heartfelt and raucously funny film.
Plot Synopsis: Rick (Owen Wilson) and Fred (Jason Sudeikis) are best friends who have a lot in common, including the fact that they have each been married for many years. But when the two men begin to show signs of restlessness at home, their wives (Jenna Fischer, Christina Applegate) take a bold approach to revitalizing their individual marriages: granting them a "hall pass," one week of freedom to do whatever they want...no questions asked. At first, it sounds like a dream come true for Rick and Fred. But it isn't long before they discover that their expectations of the single life-and themselves-are completely, and hilariously, out of sync with reality.
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Blu-ray Details:
Available on Blu-ray - June 14, 2011
Screen Formats: 2.40:1
Subtitles: English SDH, French, Spanish, Portuguese
Audio: English: DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1; French: Dolby Digital 5.1; Spanish: Dolby Digital 5.1; Portuguese: Dolby Digital 5.1
Discs: 50GB Blu-ray Disc; Two-disc set (1 BD, 1 DVD); Digital copy (on disc); DVD copy; BD-Live
Packaging: Simple blu-ray package with cardboard slip-cover containing identical graphics.
Playback: Region-free
How to dress up such a ridiculously non-funny comedy that is so lifeless and dull it challenges The Three Stooges for unintelligence supremacy? Why, blu-ray of course. That and include a few previously deleted extended scenes, slap on a new cover featuring a woman's tramp-stamped derriere and call it the "Enlarged Edition." Get it?
With dialogue-heavy audio, little action, and an abundance of controlled sound-stage set pieces, comedy films tend to benefit the least from a great hi-def transfer, the biggest advantage usually coming from a blistering soundtrack or some interesting extra features. Unfortunately the Hall Pass Enlarged Edition blu-ray contains neither. With only a couple of unnecessary deleted scenes, an unfunny gag reel (boy is that ever an oxymoron) and 7 minutes of unnoticeable added footage, a "pass" is definitely in order here. To the transfer's credit however, Nicky Whelan sure does hold up well under the 1080p microscope, as do most of the black levels and vibrant colors. Though the skin tones tend to be a bit "hot" throughout, the overall technical aspects of the hi-def transfer have been handled masterfully here.
Supplements:
Commentary:
Special Features:
Seriously lacking in this department. With a only a scant 7 minutes re-inserted for the extended cut, the "Enlarged Edition" moniker is hardly worthy. The extra features include:
- Extended Cut: The blu-ray disc included in the box contains both the extended (an additional 7 minutes of footage not seen in theaters) and the theatrical cuts of the film , with the DVD including only the extended version.
- Deleted Scene (04:27) - "Coakley's Plan" is allowed to run on a few more minutes than welcome here. Good idea to cut as the "a bee is loose in our car" erratic driving gag is both unfunny in origin and execution.
- Gag Reel (01:59) - A bit xxx prophetic as it features Jenn Fischer predicting, "this will be the most boring blooper reel ever" as cameras roll while waiting for an airplane to disappear overhead.
An opening blu-ray promo, an add for WBInsider Rewards, and an anti-smoking PSA piece round out this uninspired package.
