Hall Pass

There's definitely some sort of larger, pretentious, piercing analysis that I could come up with in regards to my reaction to the Farrelly Brother's new movie Hall Pass, but I am not sure I have the interest and/or energy to do it. It would have something to do with the current studio film culture that pairs idiot man-children with full-grown adult women. Not that I have anything against idiot man-children, a subject that the Farrellys covered with aplomb in both Dumb and Dumber and Kingpin. But those characters only dreamed of being married to characters like those played by Jenna Fischer and Christina Applegate, and in this movie they actually are married to them, and are granted hall passes, a week in which they can cheat on their wives guilt-free.

But is it funny? Sporadically. The gross-out humor is very very gross, and Stephen Merchant is particularly watchable as one of their suburban pals along for the ride. But I kept wanting to get back to their wives and their week spent on the cape, being pursued by non-dweeby players and coaches of the Cape Cod baseball league. It was so much more interesting, and there was no explosive diarrhea.