| By Miv Evans
This is a dull story about four dull people who take their spouses for granted and who, at the end of the film, stop taking their spouses for granted.
 I know that's technically a spoiler but it's not exactly a twist and, when films are this banal, I assume no one intelligent enough to read reviews will watch it anyway.
Rick (Owen Wilson) is married to Magee (Jenna Fischer) and they have three children.
Their closest friends are Fred (Jason Sudeikis) and his wife Grace (Christina Applegate).
Magee overhears Rick and Fred fantasize about who they'd like to have an affair with and decides this is something she should discuss with Grace. Dr Lucy (Joy Behar) is present during their conversation and suggests they give their husbands a 7-day Hall Pass, which means they can have a week off from their marriage.
Magee and Grace agree and leave town so their spouses have space to do what they want.
The weakest idea in the world can work if the characters are memorable and relatable and struggle to make sense of their lives, just like we do.
But these four people have most things figured out and the only problem is that Rick and Fred check out other women, but as guys are hard-wired to do just that, it's hardly a real problem but obviously the filmmakers live on a different planet to the rest of us and think it is.
Whichever way, it's still a feeble idea to springboard a story and, with the characters needing no inner journey to repair their psyches, there's really nowhere left to go.
|
