It’s a shame that “Hall Pass” doesn’t have a less contrived script or a bit more maturity. If it had these things, it would be one heck of a comedy. But alas, it doesn’t, and what we are stuck with is a few decent laughs held together by a string of ridiculous events.
It could be worse, though, as Owen Wilson and Jason Sudeikis play off each other pretty well. Their sex-crazed babbling combined with a blooming barely-adolescent brain and the libido of a retirement home patient re-entering the game is absolutely outlandish. Yet as childish as practically every line and situation was, I would find myself chuckling in spite of it, mostly along with Sudeikis. Maybe it’s because he’s used to finding nuggets of gold inside of crap at “Saturday Night Live,” but whatever it is, the man is some kind of funny. Wilson, on the other hand, feels past his prime with humor quality receding almost as precipitously as his hairline.
But these two hopeless husbands get a chance to live out their dreams in order to relieve their woebegone wives (played by Jenna Fischer and Christina Applegate). In the words of Joy Behar, it’s a “hall pass.” The movie never really cashes in on the high concept, just as Wilson and Sudeikis’ helpless sex drive leads them nowhere while their wives, in the words of Justin Timberlake, “get their sexy on.”
The stupid shenanigans distract from anything meaningful that “Hall Pass” might have to say about marriage. I’m doubting there actually was anything in the way of commentary as the characters sure don’t seem to have any scruples about the messed-up events of the movie. It’s definitely a far cry from The Farrelly Brothers’ “There’s Something About Mary.” As for the conclusion of this review, I’m not really sure whether to steer you towards or away from the movie: it’s just another middling, forgettable comedy that I couldn’t feel more ambivalently about. C / 
Marshall and the Movies 
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