Writer: Roy Lim Jian-Min

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Watch this if you liked: "Role Models", "Due Date", "Drillbit Taylor", "He's Just Not That Into You", "There's Something About Mary"

"Hall Pass", the latest movie from the Farrelly brothers starring Owen Wilson (Rick) and Jason Sudeikis (Fred) as best friends, is a raunchy comedy that serves up an "unpleasant" kind of humour. What kind of unpleasantness you may ask? Well, let's just say that the movie is clearly meant for its intended audience whom enjoy the raunchy and racy type of comedy. If you laughed yourself silly while watching "There's Something About Mary", then you most likely will be able to appreciate this flick. Also, if you thought "Dumb And Dumber" was just plain stupid, then you will probably not enjoy "Hall Pass".

The 40-something-year-old best friends (Rick and Fred) are convinced they can get as many women now, as they did in their college days, so their theory gets put to the test when their wives (played by Christina Applegate and Jenna Fischer) give their sex-obsessed immature husbands a 'hall pass' - one week off marriage commitments with no strings attached. Very soon their newfound freedom leads to predictable fish-out-of-water situations and plenty of cringe-inducing conversations with women who are half their age and obviously out of their league.

The reviewer feels that the usage of sexual oriented jokes in the movie may be overplayed, but it compensates for the weak plot of the movie. The slapstick and toilet related humour (literally) that is seen in the movie, is the typical trademark comedy style of the Farrelly Brothers, but the reviewer feels the mid-life crisis that the Farrelly Brothers decided to embed into the script was genius and it made it relatable to the intended target audience regardless of gender.

The writer could see no major flaws in the performance of Owen Wilson and Jason Sudeikis, as they played the role of Rick and Fred who are bored of their marriage to perfection. The Farrellys who have made a career out of dim-witted pairings from "Dumb and Dumber" to "Kingpin" and "Stuck on You" doesn't translate the same kind of familiarity in this movie as the "Hall Pass" co-stars read through their lines like they're at a script meeting.

The strain of the Farrelly brothers attempt to live up to their rudely comic younger selves is all too evident in "Hall Pass", however do give it a go if you are a fan of slapstick and toilet humour, cause only then will you find this movie entertainingly hilarious to tickle your funny bone.

Cinema Online, 27 April 2011