Review of film: “HALL PASS” + Q&A with Dir. PETER FARRELLY & PETE JOHNS (writer)

2011, 02-16:

Review of film:  “HALL PASS” + Q&A with Director PETER FARRELLY & PETE JOHNS (writer)

The “tagline” for the film says the “Pass” is “Good for One Week OFF MARRIAGE”--  & that’s what the movie is “about”:

…  Rick (OWEN WILSON) plays a man “happily” married to his wife Maggie (JENNA FISCHER who plays “Pam” on TV’s “THE OFFICE”).  But, besides playing his usual “SPACY” character, here, he’s also “DORKY”, shown by the way he’s openly looking at OTHER women as he walks with Jenna, which she comments on with displeasure to him…

…  As bad as Owen acts, his best friend Fred (JASON SUDEIKIS) acts much worse, being usually lewd & foul-mouthed even in the company of women such as his wife Grace (CHRISTINA APPLEGATE)…

…  Both of the guys act far worse when mainly in the company of their MALE friends, such as during a regular card game--  which chances to be overheard by Jenna & Christina… 

…  Jason had at one point brought up the idea of having a “HALL PASS” from marriage, &, disgusted with the attitudes of their hubbies, the two women decide to (hopefully) teach the guys a “lesson” by GIVING the guys a 1-week “Pass” they claim they “wanted”…

…  Thus, Jenna takes their kids to go out of the area where her folks live, & she’s joined by Christina…  Owen & Jason think they’re gonna have an “EASY” time picking up women, & they purposely have their card-playing buddies around to “watch” their great “successes”…

…  But, the “stud muffin” guys prove to be far more “MUFFINS” than studs, constantly SCREWING-UP (rather than screwing) in trying to act “cool”…  The comedy follows their INEPT actions & bouts of “foot-in-mouth” diseases…      

…  To the surprise of Jenna & Christina (who’d merely expected to get “away” from their husbands for a little while), the women unexpectedly start to be DESIRABLE to some of the unmarried GUYS around them: 

…  Christina is pursued by a handsome college guy much younger than her named Gerry (TYLER HOECHLIN, from the old “7^th Heaven” TV show), & Jenna is “chased” by Tyler’s baseball coach who seemingly was named Rick Coleman (BRUCE THOMAS)… 

…  Meanwhile, an old guy Coakley (RICHARD JENKINS) tries to “counsel” the husbands in how to get the “chicks” THEY want…  But, problems keep “arising” (even if other things don’t--) with Owen’s babysitter Paige (ALEXANDRA DADDARIO) & Jason’s “goal” of Leigh (NICKY WHELAN)…  

…  Will the guys SUCCEED in their objectives of making good “use” of their “Hall Pass”?...  Will Christina “give-in” to the pursuit by Tyler?...  Will Jenna get with Tyler’s coach?... 

…  Will it be the WOMEN who really end-up with the “winnings” of the “Hall Passes” they were never really interested in?...  Will the husbands & wives be able to “RECONCILE” with each other after the “experiment”?...

…  There is some very FUNNY outrageous humor in the film, typical of a “Farrelly-an” enterprise, such as one of Jason & a woman in a bathroom…  Altho Owen’s character is a bit hard for me to “take” (maybe because he’s been in so MANY quasi-“similar” type roles in the past ½ year?), the others are “believable” & enjoyable in their roles…

…  There are some periodically serious “messages” behind some of the comedy.  The film is NOT as funny as I’d hoped it would be-- but it has more “laugh-aloud” humor than MOST comedies recently (tho usually of a very “raunchy” nature)…

…  Accordingly, I’m giving this a 7.5 out of 10 stars…  

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Q&A with Director PETER FARRELLY & writer PETE JOHNS

AFTER the film, I was pleased to hear a Q&A with one of the 2 director brothers, PETER FARRELLY,  & the writer of the screenplay, PETE JOHNS… 

…  Moderator “Capone” of AICN (AintItCoolNews.com) introduced Peter by pointing out he & his brother Bobby have given us the films “DUMB & DUMBER”, “KINGPIN” & “THERE’S SOMETHING ABOUT MARY”…  

…  Capone talked about some of the humor in this film, such as having the “cool” guys going to an APPLEBY’S restaurant looking for “hot” women, etc.  He also commented on the “Fake Chow” scene with Jason in the bathroom, & how the “hardened film critics” seeing it with him earlier gave that scene its biggest laugh as they watched it…

…  To Capone’s question of, how much time did it take to FILM that scene of an unexpected physical reaction by the female, Peter replied that it was done on the FIRST try, “right out of the ‘gate’--  so to speak!” (which itself got a hearty laugh at the “pun-y” comment he’d made)…  

…  To other things asked by Capone & the audience members, Peter said, the most difficult part of making such a film is NOT fashioning the humor--  the hardest part is creating the CHARACTERS in it!… 

…  Writer Pete (seemingly with a Chicago background) said that no, the afore-mentioned “bathroom” seduction scene was not in the original “draft” of the screenplay, it was created as they went along in the process, since “it’s not the ‘HIGHEST’ form of joke…”  Then, the Farrelly bothers came “on-board” with the film project about 4-5 years ago…

…  Director Peter commented, they decided to get involved with the script because of “how FUNNY it was”, the way even the 1^st draft made him laugh like “12 times”, whereas most comedies don’t generate anywhere NEAR that many laughs initially…

…  Writer Pete said yes, he was the first winner of the “PROJECT GREENLIGHT” [created by Matt Damon & Ben Affleck after they won the OSCAR® for “GOOD WILL HUNTING”] which gave first-time filmmakers the opportunity to direct their first feature film…

…  A person in the audience asked, how was it growing-up in the Farrelly household?  Seriously, Peter said no, neither he nor his brother were “class clowns” at all:  they grew up with 3 sisters, & it was a pretty “idyllic” childhood overall…

…  He related that he’s like 1.5 years older than Bobby, & they grew up as “BEST FRIENDS” thru the years.  When they decided to go into film-making, “Nobody STOPPED us!...”, & they’ve enjoyed doing it ever since…

…  Capone asked, does Peter ever feel the need to “top” himself (such as in raunchiness)?  Peter replied, he DOES feel the pressure--  but NOT in creating JOKES, rather in the creation of CHARACTERS!  For example, creating the ones in “DUMB & DUMBER”, since the construction of effective characters is the HARDEST thing, he feels!...   

…  A 20-ish bearded guy commented to Peter that he’d interviewed him in the past, via a phone “round-table” talk with other people.  He wondered, why is brother Bobby not here today?!  Peter gave a flip answer to that unserious question…

…  To something Capone said, Peter said no, he “hates” the idea that their films should keep being “GROSSER”,  that’s not at all one of the “goals” they have!  For example, many people said “THERE’S SOMETHING ABOUT MARY” was gross--  they just thought it was a sort of “human” reaction that was given when the woman has something “UNEXPECTED” in her hair…

…  In Peter’s opinion, “It’s the SET-UP” that’s really funny in that movie, due entirely to the “situation” that had previously been carefully arranged bit-by-bit.  Although, he’ll agree that, “I like to ‘PUSH’ it a little—” reaction-wise…

…  When an audience member asked if much of “HALL PASS” was “improvised”, both Peter & Pete said, no, it WASN’T – “It’s mostly WRITTEN—”, since they feel it’s kind of “unfair” to certain of the “reacting” actors to not KNOW what is “coming” so they can properly do their OWN roles effectively…

…  Peter said, “Unlike [Judd] Apatow, we DON’T like to ‘WING-IT’—” in their movies:  on this one, they worked like 2-3 years ”to get it RIGHT” before filming.  Pete said, that’s true, & kidded, “Peter’s a ‘DICTATOR’ on set!”…

…  Peter said, as brothers, they DISCUSS things together, to best decide if something was “too much” to do & all, & then he talks to the actors to give them their “opinion”…

…  When a person in the audience asked, who would they like to WORK with in the future, writer Pete said, “TOM CRUISE!”…  Peter said, he’d found you can’t CONTROL who you’ll be able to GET cast-wise, so you choose whomever seems best & “AVAILABLE” for the period when you know you’ll be shooting… 

…  For instance, JIM CARREY was like # 100 on their list of who to “consider” for DUMB & DUMBER”, &, for them, “It seems to always WORK-OUT—” in getting people who do effective work in their roles…

…  When asked where they got the idea for “HALL PASS”, Pete said, he’s “obsessed with the idea of MONOGAMY—”, partly because he’s been married for “15 years”, +, his wife is in the AUDIENCE tonite!...  Peter said, when you’re married, you tend to have a better idea how important it is to work “together” on things in life…

…  An audience member asked writer Pete how long it’d taken to WRITE the script.  He replied that, he wrote 50 pages, & then a buddy told him its “too DARK” attitude-wise.  So, he RE-DID it over 4 weeks, it was much better--  but NONE of that 1^st draft is really IN the movie we’re seeing today!  In other words, it took lots of “refining”…

…  Director Peter said, once he was involved in the project, he showed the basic script to his WIFE, who said, “I HATE this freakin’ thing!”…  She commented, “If you get a ‘Hall Pass’ [as a husband], [then] I get a ‘Hall Pass!”--  & that helped him realize that was the way to “GO” with the story, showing how the WOMEN “reacted” when they were alone.  They then worked “to find the BALANCE” between the 2 sides…

…  They considered the idea of possibly having one or more of the married parties get DIVORCED, but they decided to NOT go that “route” with the story… 

…  Capone commented that, he feels the film “really is 2 movies” put together.  Peter agreed, saying, when the men are doing their thing in “HALL PASS”, you see the wives have their own things THEY do… 

…  Writer Pete agreed, having decided that, “Let’s go down EVERY road—” for both sides.  He felt that it’d be wrong for Jenna’s character to get with “a bunch of guys” because that was OUT of character for her role…

…  Peter related that they’d cut-out a scene where the “COACH” was seen holding his clothes outside Jenna’s window (as if he’d run out when hubby Owen arrives to see her at the end);  they felt that’d be “WRONG” for her…  As constituted, he feels “It’s really win – win – win for the WIVES—” the way the film ends…

…  Capone asked, what’s going on with the rumored “MOVIE 43” project?  Peter said, He’d been discussing things with Elizabeth Banks & a producer friend Charlie Bressler.  They envision the film as being sort of like “KENTUCKY FRIED MOVIE”, in that it’s be a combination of some SHORT movies put together…

…  The general idea is, two 15-year-old kids and an 11-year-old SEARCH for a reputed “MOVIE 43”, & instead find a bunch of OTHER movies that’d been kept “hidden” over the years.  It’s envisioned to be a $ 5 million movie, consisting of maybe 15 or 16 “shorts” put together, of which he’d probably do 2 (1 possibly with Kate Winslett)…

…  To a question about a possible “THREE STOOGES” movie they’d reportedly been working on, Peter said, they are not planning to do a “BIOPIC” type film on that subject.  Instead, they envision it as consisting of 3 “short short” films – like the STOOGES used to do for the public, 27 or so minutes each.  It’d be set like 40 years ago (as if the “present” time was THEN), & each story would “pick-up” where the previous one ended…

…  Peter said, they’d been casting it for the past 6 weeks, & they’re still doing “READINGS” for it.  They will have some “unknowns” in it, along with some very WELL-known actors.  Just who they finally choose will depend on the readings (who “impresses” them), & who turns out to be AVAILABLE for the shooting which is scheduled to start April 18^th!...

…  Capone thanked Peter & Pete for joining us, & then they allowed people to come TALK to them at the front of the theater before they decided where to go out for some food...  Another INTERESTING talk, I felt!...

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