Quick Review: Hall Pass

So, is "Hall Pass" based on any sort of reality? Do married couples do this in real life? Rick (Owen Wilson) and Maggie (Jenna Fischer) have been happily married for years, as have Rick's best friend Fred (Jason Sudeikis) and Grace (Christina Applegate), but the boys are a little bored and are constantly looking at hot women. On the advice of Dr. Lucy (Joy Behar), the wives give their husbands a "hall pass" from marriage. For one week they're allowed to live the single life and get everything out of their system. Two middle-aged men trying to hook up with young babes? You wouldn't expect that to go so well, but things get more complicated as the week goes on. Raunchy -- it's from the Farrelly brothers, and one scene is much more disgusting than the hair-gel scene in "There's Something About Mary" -- but sort of predictable, but it's got some laughs (and in one scene, the two extremes of male frontal nudity). I liked it more than I thought I would going into the theater. My grade: B-minus.

Quick Review: How Do You Know

The bad news is that, despite a cast including Reese Witherspoon, Paul Rudd, Owen Wilson and Jack Nicholson, there's not much to "How Do You Know," another romantic comedy that's mostly lacking in both categories. It's harmless but it's just not all that interesting. Witherspoon plays Lisa, a softball player just cut from Team USA. Softball is her life and she isn't ready to move on. She begins seeing Matty (Wilson), a not-too-bright pitcher for the Washington Nationals. (We are told at one point that he makes $14 million per year. This was filmed pre-Jayson Werth, so clearly this is a work of fiction. But the one scene of Nationals Park did show a half-empty stadium.) At the same time Lisa meets George (Rudd), an executive at some sort of firm -- it's not really clear what it does -- run by his father (Nicholson). George finds himself the target of a federal investigation and is trying to deal with that and his feelings for Lisa. The romantic byplay between Lisa and George, and Lisa and Matty, is always in fits and starts. You just wonder why any of these people want to be in a relationship with the other.

So that's the bad news. What's the good news? I have another excuse to look at this picture of Rudd. Duh. My grade: C-minus.