“Mixed Messages”

HALL PASS is the latest attempt at humor from the Farrelly brothers, Peter and Bobby, who previously were responsible for the 1994 DUMB & DUMBER, the 1998 THERE’S SOMETHING ABOUT MARY, the 2000 ME, MYSELF & IRENE, and the 2001 SHALLOW HAL, to name a few . . . too many.

So, to send you a mixed message, don’t waste any time seeing this movie.

However, if you are forced to see it now or accidentally see it later, be prepared for a load of crap, to be crude, and literal, and not funny.

Also be prepared for the movie to take way too long to get started, just as this review is taking.

It stars Owen Wilson as Rick and Jason Sudeikis as his best friend, Fred. Respectively, they are married to Jenna Fischer as Maggie and Christina Applegate as Grace.

Hall Pass MovieLike all men, Rick and Fred take long looks at beautiful women whenever they can, and like all wives, Maggie and Grace take personal offense when their husbands do.

So, on the advice of a friend, Maggie decides to give Rick a chance to get his wanderlust out of his system. She says to him, “I’m giving you a hall pass. One week off from marriage.”

Grace does the same with Fred, and together Maggie and Grace take the kids and travel to Cape Cod to spend a week with Maggie’s father, leaving Rick and Fred in Providence, Rhode Island, to do whatever they want for a week with no wives around.

Then we get a day-by-day account of the expected horndog hilarity, which we know is going to end with a message, right? The movie also cuts back and forth from Providence to Cape Cod as we watch the wives encounter some unexpected situations, as well.

On Day 6 Richard Jenkins shows up in Providence as Coakley, a mentor and hero for Rick and Fred, and he shows them what he does that makes him succeed with women, especially by throwing a big party at his house with a lot of women and a lot of opportunities for Rick and Fred.

Well, I won’t spoil the movie for you by telling you what you can already guess, but I do suggest that you stay until after the credits.

HALL PASS contains mixed messages, some funny and others not at all.

I’m Dan Culberson and this is “Hotshots.”