"Hall Pass" (opened February 25 throughout San Diego) is the latest comedy from the Farrelly Brothers.
The trailers for "Hall Pass" did a good job hooking people into wanting to see the movie, mostly because of how they make it seem as if this film is going to be like "The Hangover" – only with middle aged men. The result was nothing like that.
"Hall Pass" is about a married couple that's having problems. Rick played by Owen Wilson is constantly talking about sex and looking at other women because his wife doesn’t put out. Maggie (Jenna Fischer), Rick’s wife, finds this out and offers him a “Hall Pass,” which is a week off from marriage. One of his close friends, Fred (Jason Sudeikis), is offered the same deal, and they become “Hall Pass Partners.” After a couple of days into their "week off," Rick and Fred realize that if they have a time off from marriage, so do their wives. They didn’t like that at all. That’s when they realize that they really love and need their wives. Maggie and Grace (Christina Applegate), Fred’s wife, do end up having a better time than their husbands do, and realize that the “hall pass” was really for them. So Rick and Fred end up having a week to do anything they want with no consequences and they don't take advantage of it. They attempt to but fail.
The film was a disappointment. I was expecting something much different. This film was very graphic. I didn’t like how they added unnecessary nudity, and how that nudity was on screen for a long time compared with many other films. The film showed a penis, and not just a naked man exposing his penis, but a focus on the penis more than two times. That was just too much. The film also had unnecessary profanity coming from a 5-year-old. A kid shouldn’t be saying some things even if it’s meant to make the film funnier. They could have made the 5-year-old say “fat butt” instead of “fat ass;” it would have still been funny because of what the scene was.
Yes the film overall generated many laughs and there were many quick one-liners that were funny. If I were to recommend this film, it would be to adults only because of all the nudity and profanity. But the overall moral of the story I liked. The way they changed the film around toward the end was especially brilliant. The entire meaning of a “hall pass” was really all psychological. “Just because your wife says it’s okay to cheat, is it?” was a quote that stood out to me. It was a journey to make their marriage stronger. As a viewer I wasn’t expecting this to happen, therefore it was a disappointment and I left the movie theater saying to myself, "It was not as funny, as I thought it could be.”
Mireya Munoz is a senior at Mount Miguel High School.
