First Hit: A better than average comedy.
The premise of Hall Pass is that two married men, who like to fondly remember they college days as ladies men, get a free week away from their marriage.
The wives think that by giving the men Hall Passes they will realize they have it best with their current wives. Rick (played by Owen Wilson) and Fred (played by Jason Sudeikis) are the husbands married to Maggie (played by Jenna Fischer) and Grace (played by Christina Applegate) respectively. When they receive their Hall Pass they spend their time with their friends (who want to watch them get laid), at odd places like Applebee’s to try to pick up women.
The film is mostly about their haphazard attempts to find women to sleep with. The scenes are out-loud funny with a ring of truth running through it all. The women also discover that by granting a Hall Pass to their husbands that they’ve also given themselves a Hall Pass. What happens to Maggie and Grace is with more intent and more calculating than the men.
Wilson is in one of his better roles here. He just isn't a smart-alecky guy. Here he is more controlled and through this control he is actually funnier. Sudeikis is, at times, the over the top guy. The scene of him masturbating in his car is pretty off the wall and funny. Fischer is very good as Wilson’s wife who has to rediscover her love. Applegate is wonderful as Sudeikis’ wife. She is sexy, smart and is an excellent casting choice. Nicky Whelan plays a coffee shop girl that Wilson is infatuated with and she does a good job of being that woman. Richard Jenkins is really funny as a character named Coakley who is the Wilson's and Sudeikis' sex and woman mentor. Pete Jones and Peter Farrelly wrote this very tight and funny script. Bobby and Peter Farrelly co-directed this film very tightly and with a real bent to bring out the real funny aspects of married men.
Overall: This was an unexpected joy because it kept its reins in enough to make it both funny and with a point.