Hall Pass: now on DVD

-
my rating: 2 out of 5
Thinking of a hall pass in middle school / high school is not a good memory. It always makes me think of the dirty, smoke-filled public school bathrooms and the strict, overbearing teachers who were afraid to let anyone leave the classroom for five minutes.
In the movie Hall Pass, a "hall pass" is supposed to be a good thing. Owen Wilson and Jason Sudeikis (SNL) are growing restless in their marriages. Their wives, Christina Applegate and Jenna Fischer (The Office) are convinced by a psychologist that giving their husbands a week off from marriage to pursue any girls they want (aka - a hall pass) will be good for their marriages. So, the hilarious ensues? Not really. Take a rated R sitcom and mix it with a terrible Saturday Night Live Sketch, and...wah-LA! Hall Pass.
Hall Pass tried desperately to make the characters interesting. But, it resorts to cheap laughs and dirty poo-poo pee-pee jokes to carry it along. None of the characters behave respectably or have any moral aptitude that is admirable. But, in the end, of course, they "realize how important everything is" and make up.
After a few bumbling and failed attempts to pick up women, the boys (Owen and Jason) employ the help of their "expert lady lover" friend, Coakley (played wonderfully by Richard Jenkins???) to help them get back into the game. This has mixed results, and both men get caught up in a nasty mess of trouble.
I don't know who the target audience is for Hall Pass. While I can relate to young married men in this movie in some ways (I'm younger than the main characters in the movie, though), I mostly don't understand why two wives would allow their husbands to run wild for a week. I guess if you're at that point, a divorce is a better idea.
Of course, the "humor" is totally filthy throughout. I suppose it is assumed by the makers of this movie that an audience will not laugh unless the jokes are filthy. And, cheap laughs always go for shock value rather than real humor. Skip this movie. I didn't even include the trailer on this review because it was too dirty. Yuck. Do yourself a favor, and give yourself a "hall pass" from Hall Pass. (That was funny, right?)

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Tron: Legacy (of awesomeness)

-
Image
When I saw Tron: Legacy , I couldn't remember the last time I saw the first Tron . I could only vaguely remember the blue circuit motorcycles, Jeff Bridges, and those goofy glowing helmets. I also remember that it was a very long, strange, and even sometimes arduous movie. (What were those guys smoking back in the early 80s???) The first Tron came out in the early 80's. However, for all its weirdness, it was ahead of its time. Now, we are in 2011. The new Tron begins by explaining that Kevin Flynn, (Jeff Bridges) CEO of the software company that, among other things, created the video game "Tron", mysteriously disappeared in '89. he left behind a sprawling publicly traded software empire, and a very broken-hearted twelve year old son. His son, Sam Flynn, grows up without a father. He pretends like he's over it, but we know it consumes him. He avoids responsibility with the software company because he's "immature". But really, it's because
Read more

Halloween Fun for Kids

-
Image
1. Halloween is almost here! It's that time of year. The cooler weather, changing leaves, fun commercials, the yard decorations, and stores' aisles of cool Halloween stuff all mean autumn is here! Halloween is one of my favorite holidays. It is a magical mix of adventure, horror, fun,creativity, and excitement. And, who could forget: CANDY! It is the time of year when everyone expresses their fears, and faces them head on. And, since I am obsessed with movies, I have very strong opinions about Halloween movies. Halloween movies are one of the best ways for groups to celebrate the holiday, in my opinion. Halloween movies express things brilliantly in a way that no other art form can. I love Halloween music, decorations, and visual arts, as well. But, movies capture the magic better than anything else because of a combination of music, visuals, character, and storytelling. All these elements combine to tap into our fears, fantasies, and nightmares. Also, everyone has a different
Read more

Transformers 3: Dark of the Moon

-
Image
my rating: 2.5 out of 5 Right now, as I type this, my head is pounding and my ears are ringing. I just got assaulted by the new epic blockbuster Transformers 3: Dark of the Moon . Michael Bay is known for over-the-top, in-your-face movies that are way bigger than life. Out of all his movies, Dark of the Moon is the biggest, loudest, longest, most obnoxious 2.5 hours of movie sensory blitz he's ever done. This is the bad news and the good news, rolled into one. On one hand, the good news is this movie has the best special effects of any movie ever made. The bar of special effects for Hollywood movies is so high these days that the effects are absolutely mind-blowing. Seeing this movie in 3D made me feel like I was hurtling through outer space in some scenes. The human characters looked great in super detailed 3D splendor, as well. The action scenes are more coherent than past Transformers flicks, too. You can actually kind of follow what's happening visually. The down side is
Read more