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Hall Pass starring Owen Wilson, Jason Sudeikis & Christina Applegate: Review for the Funny and Crude Comedy

Posted on September 6, 2018 Written by Pinar Tarhan

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Hall Pass movie poster.

Married best friends Rick (Owen Wilson) and Fred (Jason Sudeikis) are on the fast track to middle-aged suburban “husbandhood.” They wear boring clothes, can rarely have sex with their wives, and they are comfortable in their careers.

While neither they or their married friends (played by Stephen Merchant, Larry Joe Campbell, and J.B. Smoove) are cheating on their wives, they are all obsessed with the sexual escapades they are not having.

But they are not the only ones discontent with their spouses. Rick’s wife Maggie (Jenna Fischer) and Fred’s wife Grace (Christina Applegate) are fed up with their husbands’ crude sex talk and teenager-like antics. After a final straw, both women give their husbands a Hall Pass: A week off from marriage where they will be allowed to do anything they want with no consequences.

At first, Rick isn’t sure, but he is persuaded by Fred, and their friends join them to “watch” them hit on and score with women. As the wives, along with the two kids (Rick and Maggie’s) spend the week at Maggie’s parents, the men embark on their adventure.

But being “single” is much harder than they remember, and their pretty wives, unbeknownst to them, already have admirers. And if the men can sleep with other people, why shouldn’t they have some fun?

Review

I quite liked Hall Pass. It was fun, and I laughed out loud during several scenes. As a romantic woman, I must say I was rooting for the men to fail and women to “succeed” with the opposite sex since they both had been so crude and insensitive about the matter. They seemed to forget their wives also had to put up with them, and not just them putting up with their wives.

Ideally, a marriage is an equal partnership where both sides exercise empathy. And despite the three “visual” jokes I didn’t care for, and the crude (yet mostly very entertaining) humor, Hall Pass does a fine job of reminding us that.

The men felt unwanted. The women felt undesired. The men wanted their wives to see sex as something enjoyable, something to look forward to, something to set more time aside for. The women wanted the men to stop gawking at other women so blatantly, to stop making everything about sex, to make them feel sexy and wanted.

So while there are several stereotypes that can make both men and women cringe, they do move the story along and take you for a fun ride. And sometimes, an R-rated relationship comedy is what you are in the mood for. Because it does contain a lot of life’s truths as well.

Spoilers

Through a chain of unfortunate events on both sides, both couples come to a mutual realization, which will hopefully make their marriage stronger. You do root for Owen Wilson’s character more than you do Jason Sudeikis’, as he is the more romantic and sensible one.

The men’s failures make for some hilarious scenes.

Favorite Scenes- Spoilers

– Golf cart chase

– Food coma, day 1

– Rick’s reunion with his wife (I’m a romantic, after all.)

– The car chase with the lunatic on top and the cops behind

Verdict 

It is no Wedding Crashers, but it can show you a fun time if you let it. Also, it is currently on Netflix. You can always turn it off if you don’t enjoy it. And the crude is to be expected as it is a movie by Bobby and Peter Farrelly (There’s Something About Mary; Me, Myself and Irene; Shallow Hal, Dumb and Dumber.)

 

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Filed Under: Movies and Actors Tagged With: christian applegate, farrelly brothers, farrelly brothers movies, hall pass, hall pass cast, hall pass movie review, Jason Sudeikis, jenna fischer, Owen Wilson, stephen merchant

Tumbledown Review: Tumbledown starring Rebecca Hall, Jason Sudeikis and Joe Manganiello

Posted on December 25, 2017 Written by Pinar Tarhan

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Tumbledown starring Rebecca Hall and Jason Suedekis
Tumbledown starring Rebecca Hall and Jason Suedekis. Image via Amazon.

Writer Hannah (Rebecca Hall)’s world comes tumbling down – pun intended- when her musician husband and the love of her life, Hunter, dies. A legend in the making, his death draws many to his grave, allowing her to continue her grief.

New York writer/university lecturer Andrew (Jason Sudeikis) is one of his fans, and he wants to write a book about him. But when he makes his intentions clear in the small town where Becky lives, she is more than a little hostile. She doesn’t want his memories distorted, and she wants to write his biography herself.

As Andrew is about to give up, however, the feedback she receives from her boss/friend/mentor Upton (Griffin Dunne) makes her reconsider working with him.

As the two begin work on her own terms, they get along better than either thought was possible. As understanding and attraction form between them, we start wondering if Becky will want to live in the present again.

*

Tumbledown is a sweet drama with enough comedy and romance to keep it realistic yet lighthearted enough.

Both characters walk a fine line between being likeable and unlikeable, but for the most part, we like them just enough to follow their journeys.

Tumbledown was written by Desi van Til, Desiree Van Til and Sean MewShaw. Directed by Sean Mewshaw in 2015.

*

Favorite scene

-When Hannah leaves Andrew home to go interview a local woman, he gets the dogs out, locks the doors and snoops around the stuff Hannah hasn’t shown him. As he hears Hannah’s car, he rushes out in a T-shirt, trying to get the dogs in, falls down in the snow and freezes his ass off. He also gets locked out.

Fun notes:

Joe Manganiello plays local, “real man” Curtis, with an ever-present crush for Hannah.

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Filed Under: Movies and Actors Tagged With: drama, griffin dunne, Jason Sudeikis, joe manganiello, movies with writer characters, Rebecca Hall, romance, sean mewshaw, tumbledown, tumbledown cast, tumbledown movie

The Bounty Hunter starring Gerard Butler and Jennifer Aniston

Posted on May 11, 2010 Written by ripitup

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The Bounty Hunter starring Gerard Butler and Jennifer Aniston
The Bounty Hunter starring Gerard Butler and Jennifer Aniston. Image from: http://temptu.files.wordpress.com

Milo Boyd (Gerard Butler) is well…a loser. An ex cop who got out of the force, he is now working as a bounty hunter. His job is to catch people who jump bail. He is mocked by cops and he does have a gambling debt. However his next assignment puts a huge smile on his face: He has to catch his ex-wife Nicole.

Nicole (Jennifer Aniston) is a successful journalist who is cursing the day she married Milo. She loves her job and she is after a huge story. One lead causes her to miss her trial and now Milo is after her.

If only that were simple…The bad guy has caught Nicole’s snitch and he is now after her. Then there are the debt collectors who are after Milo. And there is the struggle between Milo and Nicole- who might not just hate each other as they claim…

When I first the movie was being made, I couldn’t wait to see it. After all, I don’t mind Jennifer Aniston being in movies (it is a Friends thing) and I am a huge fan of Gerard Butler. Then the movie came out and people were so quick and ruthless in bashing the movie that I was half-scared that it would be a disaster. But hey , it is always best to see the movie and judge it yourself and I have to say I genuinely enjoyed it. Honestly, It has its downs:

–          It has its mediocre moments and its fair share of clichés.

–          Oh, it also has a character that’s supposed to be funny but all he did was irritate me. This character is called Stewart (Jason Sudeikis). Stewart is Nicole’s colleague and he is such a big loser that Milo seems like the ultimate catch in his worst moment, including the time he is wearing the world’s ugliest shirt and short pair! Normally ,I love Jason. He is my favorite cast member at Saturday Night Live. You might like to check out youtube for the 300 spoof- where Gerard Butler makes fun of his character King Leonidas and Jason plays his right arm. Hilarious. But Stewart is just unnecessary.

–          The music dominates some of the scenes too much. It is not that the songs are bad but the scenes are funny on their own but the music seemed determined that it wanted to steal the scenes from Butler. That was weird.

–          Sometimes you do want the movie to make up its mind on whether it wants to be a romcom or an action comedy or whatever.

That being said, it definitely has its ups:

–          Gerard Butler. It is so much fun watching him as a loser than slowly building his charm and gain his confidence back. He doesn’t mind making an ass out of himself and he sure doesn’t seem to mind if he doesn’t look the least bit good-looking. But obviously he does. He is an actor and he wants to play different characters. Sure, you saw the sweet loser Milo character before but it is still different to Gerard’s other characters. Plus, Milo is fun to watch. Most of the time.

–          Some viewer reviews claimed that Jennifer is so bad in this that she should completely stop making movies. Oh, give me a break! There is nothing about her character that requires anything more than Jennifer gives to the role. Who do they suggest played Nicole? Meryl Streep? It is a simple role. Jennifer was OK.

–          It has some really funny scenes: The golf course chasing scene, Jennifer’s hijacking a bicycle cab or Gerard’s method of rescuing Jennifer from the thugs… Don’t worry, it has more. I just don’t want to spoil it for you.

–          Have you seen the movie Bird on a Wire? It’s made in 1990 and it features Mel Gibson and Goldie Hawn in the leading roles.  It is not rated high on IMDB (a mere 5.4) but it is one of the most entertaining movies I have seen and one of my favorite movies from Gibson. It is also a mixture of action/comedy/romance and follows the story of ex-lovers. Even the storyline is quite different, as they try to save their lives and sort things out, they also realize they are not over each other. Watching The Bounty Hunter, I realized it is in the tradition of Bird on a Wire and I love that movie. Yeah, Bird on a Wire is a tad more original and a little funnier but it doesn’t change the fact that The Bounty Hunter is also all about mindless entertainment, out there to show you a good time. And it does. And that’s what matters.

It is currently 5.1 on IMDB. It has its 5 moments and it has its 7. I’ll give it a 6.

Other Posts on Gerard Butler:

6 Hollywood Stars That Would Make 20-Year-Olds Jealous

Gamer Movie Review

Top 10 Gerard Butler Movies

5 Reasons to Love Gerard Butler

Beowulf and Grendel

Gerard Butler

Gerard Butler Hosts Saturday Night Live

Posts on Jennifer Aniston

Love Happens

Marley and Me

He’s Just Not That Into You

Hollywood Stars in Friends

Derailed

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Filed Under: Movies and Actors Tagged With: action, Bird on a Wire, comedy, Gerard Butler, goldie hawn, Jason Sudeikis, Jennifer Aniston, Mel Gibson, romance, Saturday Night Live, The Bounty Hunter

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