Look, Hall Pass not the best comedy of the year, but it’s definitely one that I think many people will skip over. At least give this one a rent if you’re a fan of The Hangover. Since the special features are pretty much non-existent, and the audio is nothing special, this is a tough sell.
Hall Pass (2011)
REVIEW NAVIGATION
The Movie | Special Features | Video Quality | Audio Quality | Overall
Genre(s): Comedy
Warner Bros. | R – 105 min. – $35.99 | June 14, 2011
MOVIE INFO:
Directed by: Bobby & Peter Farrelly
Writer(s): Peter Jones & Peter Farrelly & Kevin Barnett & Bobby Farrelly (screenplay)
Cast: Owen Wilson, Jason Sudeikis, Jenna Fischer, Christina Applegate, Richard Jenkins
Theatrical Release Date: February 25, 2011
DISC INFO:
Features: Deleted Scene, Gag Reel, DVD/Digital Copy
Number of Discs: 2
Audio: English (DTS-HD MA 5.1), French (Dolby Digital 5.1), Spanish (Dolby Digital 5.1)
Video: 1080p/Widescreen 2.40
Subtitles: English SDH, French, Spanish
Region(s): A, B, C
THE MOVIE – 3.75/5
Rick (Wilson) and Fred (Sudeikis) re two guys in their 40′s who love their wives – but also love the shape of a young girl’s ass. After much thought, Fred’s wife Maggie (Fischer) lets him have a Hall Pass week – the ability to pretend that you are not married and do anything and anyone he wants as long as he comes back to her. Sounds like a good idea? Wrong.
Well, as a married man, I can tell you these things don’t exist. But let’s pretend they did – how is it this hard for two guys to get laid? I mean sure, they are twice the age of most people at a hot bar, but after 11:30pm… all the hotties go out, and the, well, not so hotties are fresh for the picking’.
But the movie does provide a ton of laughs. I was pretty sure this film skipped Theaters, but I was wrong – It actually made $45 million. So I guess it did respectable numbers for a film riding on the coat tails of The Hangover.
The film does many things right. It’s funny. Plain and simple. I laughed tons of times while watching the film as the two male leads really seem to gel well. The “group” they are a part of worked well for the most part but it’s a shame they disappear halfway through the film.
The only misstep is focusing on the wives’ story for a part of the film. Honestly, this is a guy flick, I don’t care about Applegate flaunting around for a dumb 20 year old or Fischer getting crazy for a 50 year old baseball coach. Boring.
SPECIAL FEATURES – 1/5
All this disc has an unfunny Deleted Scene (4 Minutes; HD), a Gag Reel (2 Minutes; SD) with some outtakes, a BD-Live portal. The Blu-ray also has an Extended Cut with about 6 minutes of additional footage. And for a Limited Time, a Bonus DVD/Digital Copy. Yep, that’s it.
Not a part of the Blu-ray, but if you go to the Hall Pass official site (hallpassmovie.warnerbros.com), you can partake in several activities:
“Make Yourself a 10” – Users upload a photo and make themselves look like a ‘10’ by surrounding their image with a group of ugly and odd-looking characters.
Users start by uploading a picture of themselves and then add unattractive elements such as acne, wrinkles, etc to create an “ugly” version of their picture. Next, they choose from two available templates of ugly and odd-looking people to position around their image. Just like in the film, two giant hands come into frame and cover up the odd-looking people, then uncover them – the user goes from ‘ugly’ to a ‘10’
Create Your Own Hall Pass – Users can select and customize their own version of a Hall Pass where they can enter their name, date, and what they want it to be used for.
VIDEO – 4.25/5
Hall Pass is presented in 2.40:1 on a 50GB Disc. It’s getting tougher and tougher to review Blu-rays now, as it one seems to fit in the category of “Looks good, can’t see it looking at better”. Warner continues that motto with this film which looks rather striking n Blu-ray. My one complaint is when Jenna Fisher and Christina Applegate our at the baseball game, their faces look like they just got back from a vacation at the Jersey Shore.
AUDIO – 3/5
Warner has included an English 5.1 DTS MA Track for this release. This film has a pretty impressive soundtrack with numerous tracks from the band Empire of the Sun… but I barely heard a peep from the rear speakers. The front speakers seem to handle most of the action.
OVERALL – 3.5/5
Look, Hall Pass not the best comedy of the year, but it’s definitely one that I think many people will skip over. At least give this one a rent if you’re a fan of The Hangover. Since the Special Features are pretty much non-existent, this is a tough sell.
Brad Lowenberg
Published: 06/21/2011