New on Blu-ray/DVD June 14th Hall Pass and Red Riding Hood

Hall Pass

“Hall Pass” is the new lowbrow, high concept comedy that dares to ask “What if your significant other gave you a week off from marriage?” It’s a far-fetched idea and the film’s success hinges on the questionable scenario’s execution. The suspension of disbelief is impossible to achieve if the audience isn’t invested in the main reason behind it all. The film’s directors, The Farrelly Brothers (“Kingpin,” “The Heartbreak Kid”), never come close to selling the ticket buying audience on this asinine conceit, leaving the movie hollow and near to pointless. You really should just pass on “Hall Pass”.

Rick (Owen Wilson) is your average middle-aged man with your average middle-aged issues. With an exhausted wife and three exhausting kids, Rick’s marriage is on the stagnant side and he spends a little too much effort comparing gawking notes with his best bud Fred (Jason Sudeikis). Gawking notes are pointers on how to look at women without getting caught by the Missus, you see? One night when the boys are over for poker night Rick is overheard reminiscing about his bachelor days by his wife, Maggie (Jenna Fischer), who decides that maybe a little time off is what is needed. Hence, the hall pass and Rick couldn’t be more excited.

With all the freedom his can handle, Rick hits the singles circuit and doesn’t really know what to do with himself. Nights spent trolling the local Applebees end fruitless and Rick begins to realize that his foggy memories of single hood are misleading and actually quite lonely. Unfortunately Maggie has the week off as well and while she gives Rick his space she realizes that maybe she needed a hall pass as well.

The Farrelly Brothers have delivered film that illustrates the sad fact that they have grown tired and out of ideas. This is the team that brought you “There’s Something about Mary” and “Dumb and Dumber,” hilarious films that popularized “gross out” humor in the mid-nineties but they haven’t had a real hit in more than a decade. There are plenty of moments in “Hall Pass” that are gross and over the top but they play out as stale and flat. It’s like the Brothers are trying to recapture the glory days but instead they come across as parodies of themselves.

The lack of a reasonable explanation behind the main concept is, again, a real problem and it becomes impossible to invest in what is going on. There is a weak reason given- some nonsense about a reactance theory- but it is far too weak. Bits feel disconnected and there isn’t much continuity between scenes. There is also a major tonal shift towards the end of the film when everything becomes “madcap” and “zany” for no apparent reason. The comedy goes from being situational to relying on punches to the face and crowbars to the head.

The cast does their best and there are a handful of laughs to be had, especially at Sudeikis’ expense. Jenna Fischer is solid as Maggie and deserves better and bigger roles. Wilson plays Rick tight and reserved, with his short sleeve button up nice and tucked in, but never really hits any sort of stride. In an attempt to try something new and leave his persona behind, he doesn’t show us any persona at all. He wanders through the proceedings with a disbelieving demeanor that does nothing to make the film credible. The real question that “Hall Pass” should have answered is “Why would your significant other give you a week off from marriage?”

Red Riding Hood

The new, updated version of “Red Riding Hood” manages to be an almost exact replica of the “Twilight” films without featuring one single vampire.

The initial installment of the “Twilight” series was directed by Catherine Hardwicke, as is Hood. Actor Billy Burke plays the father to both Bella (“Twilight’s” mopey heroine) and Valerie (Hood’s mopey heroine) and the girls each have to deal with menacing werewolves. Bella and Valerie are involved in love triangles that feature a brooding, dark haired hunk and a brooding fair haired hunk and the audience will, no doubt, argue the qualities of both of Hood’s young gentlemen with the majority choosing Team Peter. And, finally, each film presents many a dazed gaze worn by its young cast as they spout slow-paced, awkward dialogue that is supposed to equate to romantic communication. This modern retelling feels too familiar to be considered fresh or new.

In a small town deeply embedded in a lush forest (“Twilight” takes place in similar surroundings) the townsfolk live in constant fear of a werewolf. It had been nearly twenty years since the beast has taken a human life. It is a long stretch that comes to an end with the discovery of a young girl’s corpse. The townsfolk is whipped into hysterics, vengeance will be had.

The dead girl is the sister to Valerie (Amanda Seyfried) and, after a brief encounter with the monstrosity, it seems that our little red hood wearing lass is next on the werewolf list. The crooked and cruel Father Solomon (Gary Oldman) comes to the village’s rescue and proves to be more of a threat than the monster roaming the land. Solomon explains that this is the season of the Red Moon and that one bite from the creature will turn the victim into a werewolf as well. Although it doesn’t seem like the best time for a jaunt to Grandmother’s (Julie Christie) house, Red makes the trek with basket in tow, only to comment on the enormous size of Grandma’s various body parts.

The film has a smugness about it that is hard to ignore. This attitude is personified by the look on the young casts faces throughout. Scenes come and go without much consequence and too much time is spent with Valerie wandering about glaring suspiciously at everyone around.

Seyfried looks the part, her pale skin plays nice next to her red cloak and what big eyes she has, but she does little in the “speaking and emoting” area. Gary Oldman is in standard mode with intense bursts of screamed dialogue and a strange dialect that has hints of his Dracula accent. He gives the movie a slight bump when he arrives but that, like everything else up on screen, fizzles out before too long. Interesting note: The film is produced by Leonardo DiCaprio who came up with the idea that probably looked good on paper. Unfortunately, Hood is a lazy clone, mixing and matching borrowed elements with no real style or statement to call its own.