Hall Pass: The Farrelly Bros.’ Own Midlife Crisis

You will not forget the title, as it is repeated four-score times during the movie. Rick and Fred (Owen Wilson and Jason Sudeikis), two domesticated suburban husbands whose long marriages have achieved somnolent routine, are gifted one week free from marital fidelity by their wives (Jenna Fischer and Christina Applegate, respectively). Wilson, of the moseying line readings, and Sudeikis, of the frisky eyebrows, are not only a comically compatible duo but touching in introspective moments, confessing married men’s melancholy anxiety of never again having sex that doesn’t involve a “sense of duty.” The Farrelly brothers make hay from out-of-touch foolishness and the oblivious insensitivity of the young and desirable as the husbands hit the singles scene, strolling into Applebee’s on a mission to get laid, their midsections spilling over pleated khakis, giving off the aphrodisiac scent of mortgage payments. However, the Farrellys’ attempts to recapture their old raunch-with-heart formula, including massage-parlor humor, dumb sex-act slang, and an ante-upping pair of bowel movements, come off like fulfilled obligations. What once came naturally now seems like trying too hard, as the Farrellys face their own midlife crisis. J.B. Smoove, Larry Joe Campbell, and Stephen Merchant (as an ascot-wearing, brolly-toting, semi-swish Englishman parody), for their part, do fine bull-session routines as Rick and Fred’s motley poker buddies.