Hall Pass

I'll let you in on a little secret. Screenwriters may appear shy and unassuming but we can become consumed by jealousy greater than that of any three real housewives of Orange County combined. Our obsession is the one sentence high concept pitch that is both crystal clear and loaded with comedic potential. When a screenwriter sees a trailer for one of these ideas, he spits out his popcorn, slaps his forehead and involuntarily blurts out "Why didn't I think of that?"

Only two films in the past five years have made me do just that. The first was Ricky Gervais' "The Invention of Lying" and most recently, the Farrelly Brothers' "Hall Pass". The latter being a movie about a couple of married guys whose wives give them a one week hall pass from their marriage.

Because it is one of those great concepts, there was a lot pressure on the Brothers Farrelly to not screw it up. Sure, these guys delivered the comedy classics Dumb and Dumber (1996) and There's Something About Mary (1998). But let's not forget that they are also responsible for Stuck on You (2003) Fever Pitch (2005) and The Heartbreak Kid (2007). No question over the past decade, they've had more misses than hits.

Part of the Farrelly's challenge is their recipe for comedy is a delicate balance of gross out scenes with sincerity and sweetness. They can get away with the Cameron Diaz hair gel scene in Mary because we root for Ben Stiller to win over the great unrequited love of his life. If that balance is off just a bit, we end up with Shallow Hal (2001). In Hall Pass, they again seem to have the balance just right.

In Hall Pass, they present us with two best friends Rick (Owen Wilson) and Fred (Jason Sudeikis) who have seemingly happy marriages but can't hide their wandering eyes. Part of it is their delusional belief that if they were single, they would be picking up all the time. The other part is neither of them is getting as much action on the home-front as they'd like. Fred's way of dealing with this frustration and how it backfires on him is almost worth the price if admission by itself.

So after Rick's wife Maggie (Jenna Fisher) gives him the one week hall pass, Fred's wife Grace (Christina Applegate) follows suit. And with the premise cleared, we launch full into Act Two and this is where the movie stumbles a bit for me. Of course the guys can't succeed right away and I anticipate the epic fails as they set off on this adventure. The problem for me is too much time is spent on them avoiding trying to pick up women. There is a whole sequence of them stoned on a golf course that seems to be there for no other reason than the sand trap sight gag.

And just as I'm about to file this in the "Stuck On You" category of failed execution, something really interesting happens. They start to explore the opportunities the wives have with this week of hall pass. Maggie and Grace go away to a resort town where a baseball team is wrapping up their season. The older coach is crushing on Maggie while the early 20's baseball stud is hot for Grace. What makes this interesting is we don't know exactly where this story development is heading. We believe that the wives could easily be successful if they wanted something to happen. But would they?

Whereas the guy's scenario was a little more predictable. There were many failed and clueless attempts to find a woman who will sleep with them. To be honest, that section of the movie is mostly forgettable. I thought things really picked up when it became more about what the wives were doing while away and the developing relationship between Rick and Leigh (Nicky Whelan), his favourite coffee barista. When it stopped being about forced comedy and more about the temptation of this one beautiful young woman who is not your wife, it started to feel more authentic. I feel like the last 30 minutes saved the movie from the previous 30 minutes.

Wilson and Sudeikis are both charming and likeable in these roles. They are able to play the comedy for big laughs when necessary and give the touching emotional speech when required as well. The breakout star of this movie is Whelan who did a nice job of portraying the sexy temptress while still having a likeable girl-next-door quality to her.

This is by no means a great movie but I do believe it is a good comedy. It has enough big laughs with the gross-out humour to satisfy long time fans of the Farrely's. And the emotional storyline is sufficiently sweet and competent. This movie has both a nice zinger of a last line and end credits bonus that helps to end it on a high note.

So if you are looking for a model for your high concept broad comedy with heart, this is not a bad one to look at. And if you are working on such a script, best of luck with it. I hope it goes well.

But don't let me find out about it. Or I will destroy you!