Hall Pass

Apparently all men who have been married for any length of time think that they were super-studs in their single lives, and could be again if just given the chance (for the record, I have no illusions about this), so what if a couple of married guys barreling towards middle-age were given one week to regain their single glory? Could they do it, and when it comes down to it, would they? This is the premise for the new Farrelly brothers movie “Hall Pass”.

Rick (Owen Wilson: “The Darjeeling Limited”) and Fred (Jason Sudeikis: “Going the Distance”, “30 Rock”) are just a couple of average married guys; they love their wives, but that doesn't mean they don't enjoy the female scenery around them. Unfortunately they both have a serious problem with telling when they are being observed. Fred's wife, Grace (Christina Applegate: “Going the Distance”, “Married... With Children”), accepts this because she views her husband as far too pathetic to ever be able to do anything but look, but Rick's wife, Maggie (Jenna Fischer: “The Office”) is becoming increasingly worried.

After being caught mocking their hosts at a friend's housewarming party, Maggie gives in and takes the advice of a friend of hers who had similar issues (Joy Behar: “The View”). She packs up herself and the kids, and gives Rick a week of single-hood. Fred is more excited about this than Rick is initially, but Grace does not give in until her husband is caught doing something hilariously embarrassing by the police. Suddenly it's off the Maggie's parents' beach house to leave the men to their own devices for a solid week.

Free at last, the guys decide to live it up, and regain their youth, with their friends in tow living vicariously through them. Of course things do not go as planned, and the guys find that it is a lot harder to pick up women than they imagine that it used to be. By comparison, they women have no trouble flirting it up on their own week away from marriage as they socialize with the young men of a minor league baseball team. Ultimately each person has to decide how far they are willing to go, and how seriously they are going to take their “Hall Pass”.

This film has a decent cast, aside from the main stars you can also look for Stephen Merchant (“Extras”, “The Ricky Gervais Show”), Larry Joe Campbell (“According to Jim”), and J.B. Smoove (“Curb Your Enthusiasm”) as Rick and Fred's married friends, and Richard Jenkins (“Six Feet Under”) as the group's rich single friend who knows all the tricks of getting with the ladies and is the envy of all of the married men. It's a strong group of actors, and they manage to not come across as fighting for screen time, nor do they overstay their welcome and become annoying.

What does become a little annoying, to me at least, is Owen Wilson's voice; he seems to spend a good part of the film whining. I know that part of this is just his voice, and part of it is the character, but it just started to annoy me after awhile. Sudeikis, on the other hand, comes across as warm and friendly to the point of being creepy at times (one of the pick up lines he uses implies that he is trying to chloroform the woman), and this may end up being a good role for him to get some more exposure as a main character instead of just being in the supporting cast.

On the women's side Applegate is essentially playing the same role she did in "Going the Distance", that of a massive ball-buster. It seems that this is going to be the role she plays from now on. Luckily she is able to take the old Kelly Bundy snark and cruelty, ratchet it up to about twelve, and aim it directly at any man who annoys her. It's a fine line to walk between being humourously mean and just being a bitch, and I think she does a good job of staying on that line most of the time.

Fischer is sort of the one oddity in the film. She is surrounded by over-the-top characters, but never really strays into that territory herself. She is the lone sane person surrounded by lunatics (even the kids get zanier dialog than she does), but she does not fade into the background as a result of it. One interesting thing about Fischer too is that they seem to have used make-up to make her look considerably older than she does in “The Office”. It's subtle most of the time, but in closer shots her face looks kind of blotchy and a little haggish, and I found this distracting because I couldn't tell if they were doing it intentionally (her character does have three children after all) or not. While this is not something important, anything that pulls you out of the story is generally not a good thing for a film to have.

I found the movie as a whole to be a little disappointing; when it's funny it's really funny, but taken as a big picture it's just rather lacking overall. In all fairness, I've never been a huge fan of the Farrelly brothers. If you really enjoyed movies like “Dumb and Dumber” or “Something About Mary” then you will probably like this too, but it does not stand as an equal to some of their earlier work. If I were to rank it with their previous films I would place it around “Shallow Hal”; strong cast, plenty to laugh at, but a rather weak premise (only a true idiot would believe there would be no consequences to taking advantage of their hall pass), and a less than satisfying overall story (especially the climax, which was entirely predictable, and felt largely thrown in just so they could end the film).

Full of jokes about jokes about masturbation and poop (and there are a lot of the latter), full frontal male nudity, and people struggling with committing adultery (although not struggling too hard), “Hall Pass” is a movie that will make you laugh out loud, but will also have you leaving the theater feeling disappointed. Unless you are a hardcore fan of the Farrelly's movies then I strongly suggest giving this movie a pass. Even if you are Farrelly Brothers fan, I would suggest just popping your copy of “Something About Mary” into the Blu-ray and watching that instead.

“Hall Pass” is in theaters now.

The Mechanic

I think it is fair to say that I am a bit of a fanboy when it comes to Jason Statham. “The Expendables”, “The Transporter”, “War”; heck, I even enjoyed the insane mess that is “Crank: High Voltage”. As with anything you are a fan of, the potential for disappointment is high when any new project comes out due to high expectations. Well, I went into Statham's new film, “The Mechanic” with really high expectations, and you know what? I wasn't disappointed at all.

“The Mechanic” is a remake of a 1972 film of the same name that starred Charles Bronson, and Jan-Michael Vincent. I've never seen the entire original, so I cannot really comment on how to new one compares, but I do know that there have been some significant changes aside from just modernization. I will say that I am not normally a fan of remakes, but that does not effect my opinion of this film.

Jason Statham plays Arthur Bishop, a “mechanic”, which is to say a man who fixes problems quickly, efficiently, and without emotion in a manner befitting his employer's wishes. He is a solitary man who keeps his emotions to himself, but he is not made of stone. When a job comes a little too close to home for comfort, he finds himself internally conflicted. When Steve McKenna (Ben Foster: “Pandorum”), the son of a friend that Bishop betrayed, comes to him asking to be trained as a “mechanic” himself, Bishop gives in and mentors the young man.

If you are familiar with other Statham movies, then you know what to expect here; snarky one-liners, car crashes, explosions, and lots of mooks getting shot, stabbed, and otherwise killed in brutal ways. Going with the idea that there is no kill like overkill, Bishop and McKenna cut a bloody swath through their enemies leading up to a climactic battle that includes a city bus and a garbage truck. It's everything you could want from an R rated action movie.

Statham plays one of his stock characters, in this case the character from “The Transporter”. He's quiet, but sarcastic, he is meticulous, and does not display a lot of emotion. He is a man who plans his jobs down to the smallest detail, but is quite capable of improvising when the situation changes suddenly. The biggest difference between Bishop and Frank Martin really is the wardrobe. Rather than wearing a suit, Statham dons a lot of leather jackets and pea-coats for this role, and he pulls the look off well.

If I had any real criticisms about this film, it would be that Ben Foster comes across as a little whiny and annoying, but I think that was intentionally a part of the character. The only other issue I had was the extremely short and completely out of place sex scene early in the film; I know that it was partly another excuse to show Statham without his shirt on again (he actually appears shirtless within the first two minutes of his appearing on screen), but it didn't really fit in with the tone of the rest of the film.

I loved every minute of this film from the first punch to the last explosion (except maybe that sex scene). If you are looking for a deep story with complex characters then you are looking in the wrong place. “The Mechanic” is just a fun popcorn film where you can relax and cheer as the sort-of-bad guys take out the really-bad guys with a pretty decent soundtrack playing in the background. There's no thinking required, just relax and let the awesomeness roll over you. If that sounds good to you, then I definitely recommend heading out to the theater to see this movie.

“The Mechanic” is in theaters now

Going the Distance

“Going the Distance” is the new romantic comedy about a Mac and a PC who-; no wait, no it's not (but wouldn't it be cool if it was? I'd go see that). It's actually about two thirty-somethings who have to cope with the strains and stresses of a cross-country relationship.

Garret (Justin Long: probably best known from the “I'm a Mac” ad campaign) meets Erin (Drew Barrymore: “Music and Lyrics”) one night while out at the bar. He's just been dumped by his latest girlfriend essentially for being a douchebag, she's blowing off steam because her internship at The New York Sentinel newspaper is not going well (and yes, there is a brief explanation as to why someone in her thirties is still an intern). After some initial rockiness, the pair hit it off.

A one night stand becomes a friendship. A friendship becomes something more, but before that can really become a relationship Erin's internship ends, and she must return to San Francisco to finish her schooling. In spite of their better judgment, the pair decide to give a long distance relationship a go.

The plot is the standard boy gets girl, boy loses girl, boy gets girl back only to lose her again, and then must do something big to win her back one final time variety of plot. You're not going to find anything especially new or fresh here, but that doesn't mean you won't be amused. Strangely though, not many of the laughs come from Long or Barrymore (although for some reason Drew Barrymore cursing and suggesting a large biker perform an anatomically impossible act on her is enough to make me laugh), but from the supporting cast.

The friends and family of Garret and Erin are easily the best parts of this movie. In New York, Garret has his roommate, Dan (Charlie Day: “It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia”), who likes to listen to his roommate's romantic sessions through the wall, and his co-worker, Box (Jason Sudeikis: “30 Rock”) who is growing an 80's mustache to attract older women. Erin in San Francisco has her friend, Harper (Sarah Burns: “I Love You, Man”) her germaphobic sister, Corinne (Christina Applegate: “Married... With Children”), and her sister's husband, Phil (Jim Gaffigan: “17 Again”). Ultimately it is Day, Sudeikis, and Applegate who garner the majority of the films laughs, if not the biggest laugh (all I'm going to say about that is “dining room table”) of the whole film.

Justin Long seems like an odd choice for this role. While it is clear that the filmmakers tried to tailor the lead roles for the actors, the story feels like it should have leads who are about five to eight years younger than they are stated to be, there's only so much you can do for someone like Long. He's just not that good of an actor, and it shows in this. His character comes of as a bit of a douche at best, and a downright jerk at worst. I'll be honest here and say that I am not a big fan of Long, so my opinion is slanted by that, but I think that he is one of those actors (like Michael Cera) who can ruin a movie for you if you don't like him.

For most of the film, “Going the Distance” moves at a steady pace, making sure to throw decent amounts of mostly lowbrow humour at you when things start to get a little too heavy, but there are times when it tries to be serious. This movie fails the hardest during these times as Justin Long cannot pull it off convincingly, and towards the end the film starts to feel a little draggy; like it could have had a completely different type of ending about fifteen minutes before the actual conclusion.

I enjoyed this movie, but then I went into it with really low expectations, so unless you are looking for a decent date movie (but maybe not a first date; there is a lot of swearing, sexual references, and Long's bare arse) there is really no reason to recommend seeing this in theaters. The story is pure meh, Justin Long is not a leading man, and the laughs that are there, while plentiful, just do not outweigh the film's flaws. Rent it, or check it out on cable in a few months when it is just another bawdy romantic comedy shuffled in with all of the rest. If you are really that desperate for a new RomCom to see though, then you can see “Going the Distance” when it lands in theaters on September 3rd.