This movie doesn't have any balls! None! Zero! And that's a shame because it has a premise that in the right hands would have made an amazing comedy.
We have Owen Wilson and Jason Sudeikis as our leads who are best friends and both get a hall pass from their wives which means they get a week off of marriage to do whatever they want. Holy hell! Doesn't that sound like the most fun idea for a comedy ever?
So what can go wrong from here on? EVERYTHING!!! The first and biggest flaw of all: Although this movie is rated R it chickens out and forces some hollow moral upon the viewer. While we have some really funny laugh-out-loud moments early on there is a tonal shift that completely ruins it. We go all the way from raunchy and bold to family friendly and tame within mere seconds and by then the film has already lost.
Add to that Owen Wilson who gives a lackluster performance and the Farrelly's obsession with obscure and unnecessary side characters and sub plots and we get a perfect mess. What could have been something along the lines of the legendarily mean and awesome "Bad Santa" ends up being a film of missed chances and cowardice.
When exactly did the Farrellys lose their touch for great comedies like their 90s blasts "There's Something About Mary" and "Dumb and Dumber"? Was it sometime around the underwhelming "Stuck On You"? Or even before that with the horrendous "Say It Isn't So"? I am already dreading their remake of "The Three Stooges" due next year.
I wish there was a saving grace for this film but even the great scene on the golf course and a final moment involving Stephen Merchant that nails the tone this film should have had can't save "Hall Pass" from what it ultimately is: a huge disappointment.
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