Hall Pass Review

Synopsis
Rick (Owen Wilson) and Fred (Jason Sudeikis) receive hall passes from their wives, who are becoming frustrated in their marriages, allowing them to do whatever they want with other women without consequences for a week.

Review
There are times when you watch a movie and really enjoy it, then you don’t watch it for years. Eventually, you come across it again and remember enjoying it all those years ago so you watch it. Except this time, you don’t find it as enjoyable as you did before. That’s Hall Pass for me. When you see Owen Wilson and Jason Sudeikis at the top of the billing, you know exactly what kind of comedy you’re in for; It’s the kind of comedy that is my bread and butter. However, it doesn’t seem to have aged as well as other similar films I can watch over and over. Wilson and Sudeikis make a great pair and the two of them together is when I laughed the most. The leading ladies, Jenna Fischer and Christina Applegate, are excellent as well. Even the supporting cast is fun to watch, especially Rick’s (Wilson) and Fred’s (Sudeikis) group of friends. The chemistry was there, so the cast isn’t the problem. Rather the writing was this films biggest weakness. When a joke or gag was funny, it was hilarious. But not many of them were funny. For a comedy, that’s the exact opposite of what you want.

I thought Hall Pass was OK 😐 When I laughed, I laughed hard. Unfortunately, those laughs felt few and far between. The entire cast was great but the script wasn’t there to support them. I was expecting more from the Farrelly Brothers.

Trailer

Cast & Crew
Bobby Farrelly – Director / Screenplay
Peter Farrelly – Director / Screenplay
Pete Jones – Story / Screenplay
Kevin Barnett – Screenplay

Owen Wilson – Rick
Jason Sudeikis – Fred
Jenna Fischer – Maggie
Christina Applegate – Grace
Nicky Whelan – Leigh
Derek Waters – Brent
Stephen Merchant – Gary
Larry Joe Campbell – Hog-Head
JB Smoove – Flats
Joy Behr – Dr. Lucy
Bruce Thomas – Rick Coleman
Tyler Hoechlin – Gerry
Richard Jenkins – Coakley
Alexandra Daddario – Paige
Kristin Carey – Aunt Meg

Horrible Bosses Review

Synopsis
Nick (Jason Bateman), Kurt (Jason Sudeikis), and Dale (Charlie Day) hatch a plan to kill their bosses when they each push the three friends too far.

Review
Sometimes I will watch a movie simply based on the cast. I usually like slap-stick comedies like Horrible Bosses, but what really drew me towards the film was the cast. Having Jason Bateman, Jason Sudeikis, and Charlie Day play off each other was a great decision. Then adding in Kevin Spacey, Jennifer Aniston, Collin Farrell and Jamie Foxx is just icing on the cake.

The three main cast members each have their own unique comedic styles. Bateman, Sudeikis, and Day are able to bounce off each other to side-splitting effect. Their timing and deliveries are nearly flawless. Some of the best moments come when these three are together. Foxx is only in a handful of scenes with the guys. He never outshines any of them, but he does well not to be eclipsed by them either. I think if his part would have been bigger it would have been too much, so he maintains a good balance with the three leads.

Each of the three bosses are horrible for different reasons. Harken (Spacey) is condescending toward Nick (Bateman), Harris (Aniston) sexually harasses Dale (Day), and Pallitt is self-centered and doesn’t care about his employees, especially Kurt (Sudeikis). Farrell’s performance surprised me the most because I haven’t seen him in a comedy before. Spacey easily pulls of the intimidating corporate president with ease. I have been a fan of Aniston for a while, but after watching her in R-rated comedies such as this and We’re the Millers, she is becoming one of my favorite comedic actresses.

Although the cast is great, the script is equally hilarious. It is equal parts crude and humorous. There are so many memorable quotes they can easily be quoted for days. At times the script can be vulgar but it never becomes obnoxiously so. There are also moments of sincerity but not so much that it becomes hypocritical. It manages a fine balance between the two.

Horrible Bosses manages to work on so many levels. The awesome cast and fantastic script, not to mention some great cameos, make this film a stand-out comedy.

Rating
4/5

Favorite Quote
Det. Hagan: “Do you want to explain why you were going 61 in a 25 zone? One block from the victim’s house just moments after he was shot dead?”
Nick: “I was drag racing. I’m a drag racer.”
Det. Samson: “You were drag racing? In a prius?”
Nick: “…I don’t win a lot.”

Trailer

Cast & Crew
Seth Gordon – Director
Michael Markowitz – Screenplay
John Francis Daley – Screenplay
Johnathan M. Goldstein – Screenplay
Micahel Markowitz – Story
Christopher Lennertz – Composer

Jason Bateman – Nick Hendricks
Jason Sudeikis – Kurt Buckman
Charlie Day – Dale Arbus
Jennifer Aniston – Dr. Julia Harris, DDS
Kevin Spacey – Dave Harken
Colin Farrell – Bobby Pellitt
Jamie Foxx – Dean ‘MF’ Jones
Donald Sutherland – Jack Pellitt
PJ Byrne – Kenny Sommerfeld
Brian George – Atmanand (Voice)
Julie Bowen – Rhonda Harken
Wendell Pierce – Detective Hagan
Ron White – Detective Samson

We’re the Millers Review

Synopsis
When David Clark (Jason Sudeikis), a small-time pot dealer, gets robbed, his supplier (Ed Helms) tasks him with picking up a “smidge” of marijuana from Mexico. To avoid suspicion, he hires a stripper (Jennifer Aniston), a runaway (Emma Roberts), and a kid from his apartment (Will Poulter) to act as his family.

Review
Whenever you see a film preview, you set in your mind how you are going to feel about that movie once you see it. Whether or not you are aware of it, those thoughts are there. Sometimes these notions can be detrimental to what we think about the movie, even after it’s finished. But every now and then, a movie comes along and exceeds any expectations you have already set in your head. We’re the Millers, for me, is one of those movies. After seeing the previews, I thought it would just be an average comedy. I knew I would it enjoy it, but I never imagined it would as entertaining as it was.

One thing that surprised me is how well the main characters were fleshed out. With four core cast members, it can be difficult to explore the relationships between all of them, but We’re the Millers managed to do it with satisfying results. Not only was the parent-children relationship between Sudeikis/Aniston and Roberts/Poulter explored, but also the relationship between Sudeikis and Aniston (husband and wife), Sudeikis and Poulter (father and son), Aniston and Roberts (mother and daughter), and Poulter and Roberts (brother and sister). Yea, that’s a lot of character exploration in two hours, yet it was pulled it off without feeling rushed or hollow. A truly impressive feat for less than two hours of screen time.

With the exploration of all the different relationships, it was fun to see the Millers grow together, too. I don’t use “heartfelt” to describe many comedies, but We’re the Millers really made you care for the characters. Adding factors to strain their relationships, but then bring them back together, almost like they were the family they were trying to pretend to be, deepened the characters. Like I said above, the characters were really fleshed out, something uncommon in most comedies, and it made the movie that much more enjoyable.

Poulter was extraordinary as the awkward teenager. He does an excellent job of standing with veteran comedians Aniston and Sudeikis and not being overshadowed. Nick Offerman (Parks and Recreation) and Kathryn Hahn (Step Brothers) also have noteworthy performances as a couple going through a midlife crisis. They have a recurring presence throughout the film and shine whenever they are on screen. Hahn’s energy is a good balance to Offerman’s seriousness.

We’re the Millers carries and R-rating, but I think it could have easily pulled a PG-13 rating. This movie could have easily accommodated a wider audience, despite its raunchy nature, simply by removing the F-bombs. Not that I have a problem with the word “f**K” (I use it frequently myself), but the movie could have made some tweaks to the dialog without losing any of its humor, while at the same time appealing to a wider range of moviegoers. I’m sure the TV edited version will help this.

I really enjoy going to the movie theater and leaving feeling the film surpassed my expectations. Great character moments, spot-on humor, and nonstop laughs makes We’re the Millers a surprisingly heartfelt and stand-out comedy.

Rating
4/5