Film Review: Hall Pass

Of all the people that piqued my interest in seeing Hall Pass, it was legendary author Bret Easton Ellis. Proclaiming it the funniest movie of the year on his Twitter account was probably an exaggeration, and while it comes over like a Hangover wannabe, it does walk all over the sequel to that film.

Fed up by their husbands increasingly erratic and sex obsessed behaviour, Maggie (Jenna Fischer) and Grace (Christina Applegate) decide to give Rick (Owen Wilson) and Fred (Jason Sudeikis) a 'Hall Pass', which is essentially a week off from marriage so they can get everything out of their systems, with zero guilt. The wives leave to see relatives, and while they start to have a blast, the guys are struggling to recapture their youth...

Directed by The Farrelly Brothers, known for hits like Dumb And Dumber and There's Something About Mary, you can expect some gross out moments and some heart, which is what Hall Pass delivers, even though it's nowhere near as good.

The cast are all likable enough, and there are some good (albeit unlikely) appearances from Richard Jenkins as a hardened partying god, and Stephen Merchant as one of Rick and Fred's buddies. Merchant also gets one of the more amusing moments in the film, during a bizarre post credits sequence, which is almost at odds with the rest of the movie!

The film does start to drag unfortunately, as it drifts past the 90 minute mark, it does struggle to hold the interest, and even for a Farrelly Brothers film, it does get, well...dumb and dumber. And not in a good way, just in a really silly way, which didn't really do it for me. It seemed to be trying to hard to be out there and wacky.

Overall though, Hall Pass is a decent enough watch, and while it doesn't reach the heights of...well anything the cast and film makers have done before, it's all watchable enough and has just enough laughs to get you through the films slightly bloated running time.

***
A mildly amusing comedy, with some heart too. But it's nothing amazing, and it's a bit too long. Worth a rental, perhaps.

Film Review: Midnight In Paris

When 'Midnight In Paris' was recommended to me, I was told to avoid any plot points, any synopsis of the story, and especially any trailers, and if I did that I'd get more out of the film. And I really think I did. So, with those instructions in mind I am going to review the film without touching on the plot. Well, as much as possible anyway. So, this may end up being a shorter review than usual.

What I can tell you is this: Owen Wilson plays Gil, who has traveled to Paris with his fiance Inez (Rachel McAdams) and her parents John (Kurt Fuller) and Helen (Mimi Kennedy) on a business trip. Gil is a screenwriter who is suffering from writers block while working on his first novel, so is hoping that Paris inspires him with his work.

Not long into the trip they bump into friends of Inez in Carol (Nina Arianda), and insufferable know-it-all Paul (Michael Sheen.) Before long, Inez wants to start hanging around with them, whilst Gil wants to walk the streets of Paris to find his muse. But when midnight strikes, he finds it in a way he could never have imagined.

Wilson's Gil is a very Woody Allen character, you can easily see the man himself play the role. There's no secret that Allen loves Paris, and this is his love letter to the city. It's shot wonderfully, taking in all the sights of Paris, obvious and not, and even how it looks in the rain which is a theme that is returned to at later points in the film.

Even if it seems 'Woody-lite', Wilson is on fine form. He appears in so many below average comedies these days, you tend to forget how much of a likable presence he is on film, and this is a timely reminder. There's alsoa fantastic ensemble cast, with great appearances from Tom Hiddleston, Kathy Bates, Corey Stoll, Marion Cotillard and an amusing cameo from Adrien Brody.

But I really can't tell you any more about their appearances without going into the plot some more, which I'm not prepared to do. But I can tell you that French President Sarkozy's wife Carla Bruni has a small role as tour guide, also. She's probably the most famous woman in France, so that casting must have been quite the coup!

If the film had a downside though, is that it is incredibly predictable. There were several characters in the film where you just know where their story is going to go as soon as you see them. And in turn you know what Gil is going to do as well. It's a shame it's so in your face, but it doesn't detract too much from a wonderfully original, heartwarming and amusing film.

****
I told you it wasn't going to be a long review, but I really don't want to give the game away. The best possible way to see 'Midnight In Paris' is to not know much about it. Just take it from me that it is classic Woody Allen, and you won't regret it.