Taglines: One week. No rules.
Rick (Owen Wilson) and Fred (Jason Sudeikis) are best friends who have a lot in common, including the fact that they have each been married for many years. But when the two men begin to show signs of restlessness at home, their wives (Jenna Fischer, Christina Applegate) take a bold approach to revitalizing their individual marriages: granting them a hall pass, one week of freedom to do whatever they want… no questions asked. At first, it sounds like a dream come true for Rick and Fred. But it isn’t long before they discover that their expectations of the single life-and themselves-are completely, and hilariously, out of sync with reality.
About the Film
Rick and his buddy Fred consider themselves average, maybe even above-average, husbands. Easygoing, dependable and gainfully employed, they’re the kind of guys who aren’t averse to pitching in with the household chores now and then, or stopping by the dry cleaner’s… the kind of guys who wouldn’t dream of cheating on their wives. Well, actually they would. Not cheat on them, necessarily, but dream about it. Every single day. With every woman they see.
“Rick is happily married, with kids and a wife he loves. He has a good job, a nice existence but, like a lot of men, he can’t help noticing women and this irritates his wife,” says Peter Farrelly, who, with his brother Bobby Farrelly, directed and produced “Hall Pass.” The Farrellys also share screenwriting credit with Pete Jones and Kevin Barnett. Together, they felt that this eminently relatable scenario was ripe for some frank and irreverent exploration.
“The first thing that struck me about the story was how much comic potential it had. It’s a universal theme. If God came to me and said, ‘Pete, you’re with the hottest woman on the planet, she’s the best and there’s no one better,’ I’d probably still want to take a look at the second-best,” Peter admits. “Even if you’re happily married and committed, it doesn’t mean you stop looking. The question is how far do you take it?”
Owen Wilson, who stars as the easily distracted suburban dad, Rick, agrees. “Most guys can’t help noticing a good-looking woman walk by, but some of them do a better job at being subtle about it. With others, like Rick, it’s like they have their heads on a swivel.”
One of the ideas behind “Hall Pass” is that men—and women, too—are just hardwired to look. And occasionally, they may also wonder. What if I wasn’t married? What could I be doing now? And with whom? Being a Farrelly brothers comedy, such probing philosophic questions are bound to lead down some dangerously slippery slopes.
Says Bobby Farrelly, “A lot of people joke about the seven-year itch and this is sort of an updated version of that. When you’re dealing with the sacred institution of marriage, you’re playing with fire, so we knew we had to handle it just right. But we weren’t afraid of tackling the subject and we certainly weren’t going to hold back on any of the jokes or the temptations… or anything else. If we think it’s funny, Pete and I will go for it. We love pushing the envelope.”
Hall Pass
Directed by: Bobby Farrelly, Peter Farrelly
Starring: Owen Wilson, Jason Sudeikis, Jenna Fischer, Christina Applegate, Nicky Whelan, Alexandra Daddario, Lauren Bowles, Christa Beth Campbell
Screenplay by: Pete Jones, Peter Farrelly, Bobby Farrelly
Production Design by: Arlan Jay Vetter
Cinematography by: Matthew F. Leonetti
Film Editing by: Sam Seig
Costume Design by: Denise Wingate
Set Decoration by: Cindy Carr
Art Direction by: Dan Morski
MPAA Rating: R for crude and sexual humor throughout, language, some graphic nudity and drug use.
Studio: New Line Cinema
Release Date: February 28, 2011
Hits: 81
