A Tale of Two Movies – “It’s Kind of a Funny Story” and “Hall Pass”

There is one good thing about Hall Pass and you're looking at them

You would never know to look at them side by side that “It’s Kind of a Funny Story” and “Hall Pass” have anything in common, but upon closer inspection they really do. In order to properly put it in perspective though, we have to travel back in time a bit back to when the Farrelly Brothers were actually funny. The Farelly brothers’ first movie was what some still consider one of the funniest ever made; namely, “Dumb and Dumber”. It was an outside-the-box comedy at the time and the combination of the Farrellys’ sense of humor and Jim Carrey’s seemingly limitless comedic potential made it a defining film of the genre. From there, the Farrellys went on to make what some consider a step down in “Kingpin”, but what I (and many I think) contend is actually their best all around film. It was in Kingpin that the Farrellys deviated somewhat from pure comedy for comedy’s sake and added a genuine (if off-beat) storyline to draw additional viewers in. “Kingpin” is a brilliant movie, though it also seems to have spelled the beginning of the end for the brothers Farrelly. Sure, “There’s Something About Mary” is a classic as well and I would even argue that “Me, Myself, and Irene” is a genuinely great, albeit underapprecaited film. Most would categorize that as the beginning of the Farrellys’ decent, but I would blame it all on “Kingpin”. You see, in “Kingpin” is where the Farrellys began to veer off their comedic course and steer back towards what was considered more mainstream comedic fare. The storylines were punched up and tended to more and more until the comedy just wasn’t as brazen or original as it once was. Perhaps some of this was due to the fact that we became accustomed to the Farrellys’ sense of humor over the years and what was once unconventional eventually just became commonplace. I would argue though that it was due more to their focus on story.Of course, this all culminated in the ultimate divisive movie; “Fever Pitch”. If you have ever seen “Fever Pitch”, then you fall into one of two camps. The ones who loved it (women) and the ones who cannot stand it (men and all Red Sox fans for that matter). “Fever Pitch” is not a bad movie because it emphasizes story over comedy (supposedly it is a comedy), it’s just a poorly made film. It is trying to be too many things at once and never really succeeds at any of them, but ultimately defines the problem that the Farrelly brothers have had since “Me, Myself, and Irene”. They are trying to make a formulaic Hollywood movie instead of just making a comedy.

Herein lies the problem with “Hall Pass”. It is pegged as a raunchy, husbands on the loose comedy when it really is nothing of the sort. Sure, it’s amusing that Owen Wilson and Jason Sudeikis’ characters think that they are on the prowl when in reality they no longer have claws, but it is just not the movie that it was built up to be. “Hall Pass” is rather more about the problems that men and women have within the sentence . . . sorry, I meant sacrament of marriage. At its heart, “Hall Pass” is the story of two married couples that really do love each other (the people, not the couples) and are going through a rough patch. The husbands and wives take a week apart to blow off some steam and it is here that the Farrellys try and work in what they used to do so well, but it never really lands like it used to. There were maybe one or two times during the film that I laughed out loud (the loudest being the very last line of the movie), but most of the jokes just never seemed all that funny to me and apparently most everybody else as it ranks as a 34% on Rotten Tomatoes. There’s nothing wrong with making a movie focusing on the troubled lives of married folks (it has been done a few thousand times), but you have to decide whether you are making a raunchy balls-to-the-wall comedy or a dramedy. It can’t be both and this is why “Hall Pass” fails. It is loaded with talent to be sure. Let me be clear when I say that no matter what the Farrelly brothers do from here on out (though, 3 Stooges? Really guys?) they are still legends. Noone has ever started out their career with three comedies better than “Dumb and Dumber”, “Kingpin”, and “There’s Something About Mary”. The material in those three films alone should put them in the Hollywood Hall of Fame. They are a talented pair and I really do hope that they bring it back together again at some point. Owen Wilson is talented and funny about 50% of the time and Jason Sudeikis is usually much funnier than this, though their characters seems to be about as far away from Sudeikis and Wilson as you can get. Christina Applegate is wasted here, as we have seen her with much better material in “Anchorman” and the underrated ABC series “Samantha Who?”. The star of the movie is most obviously the criminally underused Jenna Fischer, though she would have been much better off if the film had been in the romantic comedy/dramedy category instead. Of course, my penis would never forgive me if I didn’t also salute Nicky Whelan who was the real star of the movie. Overall though, “Hall Pass” is a schizophrenic movie that never realizes what it wants to be.

Speaking of schizophrenia, “It’s Kind of a Funny Story” is a tale of a teenager, Craig, struggling with a lot of things and finally succumbing to the weight, checking himself into the mental ward named 3 North of a hospital in Brooklyn. It is a story that is not overly complicated, though it would be easy to do so. You see, the most marketable part of “It’s Kind of a Funny Story” is that it co-stars Zach Galifianakis just after his breakout role in The Hangover. For a film that small to land an actor ascending so quickly is quite a coup. It would have been hard to fault directors Ryan Fleck and Anna Boden for changing up the script to a more zany comedic style at the last minute to take advantage of their star, but instead they stuck to the plan and created a nice little movie. Galifianakis is notable in the film because he isn’t very notable. His subtle portrayal of Bobby is something because he doesn’t take the easy route of being the wacky mental patient. Instead, he is the layered adult with problems that a teenager like Craig cannot fully understand, but can appreciate the fact that he is better off. You see, the people of 3 North both inspire Craig as well as show him that there are many things about his life that he should be more appreciative of. Does Craig have issues? Sure and a week in 3 North cannot possibly cure all that ails him. What it can do though is show him that there is a light at the end of the tunnel and that the tunnel isn’t quite as long as it looks. “It’s Kind of a Funny Story” is a simple tale about admitting when you need help, but also learning to appreciate what you do have. It would be hard to single out any characters from the film that made it what it was without forgetting someone. The reality is that everyone in the film is perfect from Keir Gilchrist and Emma Roberts as the developing love story Craig and Noelle, the always great Lauren Graham and Jim Gaffigan as Gilchrist’s parents, Galifianakis, everyone that works at the hospital, right on down to Craig’s hermit roomate Muqtada played by Bernard White. There are light-hearted moments, sure, but at no time does it lose it’s focus on the movie that it wants and succeeds to be.

Where “It’s Kind of a Funny Story” links in to “Hall Pass” is in one trying to do too much while the other is content to succeed in doing just one thing, just right. “Hall Pass” is a lot of things, but most of them are done poorly because the focus is never solely on one element of the film. Honestly, “Hall Pass” should have been a Rob Reiner instead of a Farrelly Brothers. Either that, or they should have gone the Dumb and Dumber route and just thrown common decency out the window with no discernible plot whatsoever. If they want to tie everything up at the end with a nice little bow, then great, but let’s not spend more than five minutes on that and get back to doing what they did so well. “It’s Kind of a Funny Story” on the other hand succeeds because it has a very simple and original premise. It never deviates from that premise or oversteps its bounds or tries to be something that it is not. It is just a well-done, original story that will never reach the amount of viewers that it deserves. The best part about “It’s Kind of a Funny Story” though is that I would bet if you asked the directors, that is perfectly alright with them.
Bob’s grade – skip “Hall Pass” – 40% and check out “It’s Kind of a Funny Story” – 76%.