Hall Pass Review

-- By: Robert Acosta

Cast:
Owen Wilson as Rick
Jason Sudekis as
Jenna Fischer as
Christina Applegate as

Plot: Two married men continue to have thoughts about sex and what life would be like if they had a chance to be single. They are given this chance and things don’t really go as planned for the men.

Review: A small time comedy like Hall Pass, seemingly thrown into theaters rather than being released, usually never works. It’s these small time comedies though that seem to stick with you more than the big hit comedies.

Not to say that Hall Pass is going to pick up a cult following, or any following for that matter. But it fared much better than I could have ever expected. Owen Wilson isn’t the funniest guy in the world but the man is well connected and finds his way into very comfortable roles as an actor. Most of the comedy really comes from Jason Sudekis, which does not surprise me. The current SNL cast member sports a very blunt kind of comedy that, for this film, works.

The big, obvious question for every comedy is, is the movie funny? And yes it is. It has a good blend of really hilarious moments, just plain funny moments and small chuckle moments. But I do have my complaints.

The red band trailer of Hall Pass was released not too long ago, I’d say about a week ago. For those who don’t know what a red band trailer is, it is essentially the R rated trailer for a movie. So blood, guts, nudity, the whole nine yards can be shown to the max. After watching Hall Pass last night I thought to myself, “80% of the funny parts in Hall Pass, they showed in the red band trailer.” That’s never a good thing for me. Knowing that I saw 80% of the funny parts of the movie at home and probably could have lived without seeing the other 20%.

All in all, I can’t comment on story, special effects or anything like that. It is just a comedy movie that boiled down to acting and comedy. Hall Pass definitely has the comedy part and is an enjoyable movie.

Rating: 3.5 out of 5