HALL PASS

Hall Pass stars Owen Wilson, Jason Sudeikis, Jenna Fischer, Christina Applegate and Richard Jenkins. Directed by the Farrelly Bros. Rated R with a running time of 1 hr. and 38 minutes.

Plot: Rick (Owen Wilson) and Fred (Jason Sudeikis) are best friends who have a lot in common, including the fact that they have each been married for many years. But when the two men begin to show signs of restlessness at home, their wives (Jenna Fischer, Christina Applegate) take a bold approach to revitalizing their marriages: granting them a "hall pass," one week of freedom to do whatever they want no questions asked. At first, it sounds like a dream come true for Rick and Fred. But it isn't long before they discover that their expectations of the single life and themselves are completely out of sync with reality.

To me if a comedy makes me laugh then I usually think it is a good movie because all I want out a comedy is laughs. But when there are't many laughs then its probably not a good movie. This is the case with the Farrelly Bros. latest: Hall Pass. Owen Wilson seems to be in his comfort zone as a husband who can't help but to look at every woman he sees. Wilson's performance wasn't bad and he gets a lot more laughs than his sidekick Jason Sudeikis. Sudeikis is a lot like Wilson's character but he is a lot dumber and annoying. This is his first major role and he wasn't very funny so to me he has a lot to prove for being a comedic actor. The few funny parts consist of the whole gang of male buddies heading to Applebees to pick up on hot horny women. That scene was pretty funny.

During the movie it cuts back between the guys trying to pick up women and their wives on vacation at Cape Cod. I think the movie made a mistake doing that because the wives story lines were very boring and was a total buzz kill to the funny scenes with the guys. Fischer and Applegate are pretty much under used and just not funny. Near the end Richard Jenkins shows up as the guys oldest friend and a true bachelor who picks up women all the time. He is without a doubt the funniest thing about the movie. His scenes are hilarious and learning his tricks to pick up women were very funny. I would have rather watched a whole movie about his character instead of Rick and Fred.

The movie has the usual R rated gross out humor which sometimes was funny and sometimes very tiring because it has been used in a lot of other better comedies. I feel that the concept of the hall pass wasn't used to its full potential. I think the film makers could have tried harder to make it more funnier. Im still waiting for a good comedy in quite some time but Hall Pass is not it. Its just another mediocre comedy.

C

UNKNOWN

Unknown stars Liam Neeson, Diane Kruger, January Jones, Aidan Quinn, Bruno Ganz and Frank Langella. Directed by Jaume Collet-Serra. Rated PG-13 with a running time of 1 hr. and 49 minutes.

Plot: Dr. Martin Harris (Liam Neeson) awakens after a car accident in Berlin to discover that his wife (January Jones) suddenly doesn't recognize him and another man (Aidan Quinn) has assumed his identity. Ignored by disbelieving authorities and hunted by mysterious assassins, he finds himself alone, tired and on the run. Aided by an unlikely ally (Diane Kruger), Martin plunges headlong into a deadly mystery that will force him to question his sanity, his identity, and just how far he's willing to go to uncover the truth.

To me Unknown makes one giant mistake. The whole marketing scheme tried to make this movie look like Liam Neeson's previous hit Taken. When really these movies are very different. When stuidos do that it just doesn't make any sense and I think it just confuses movie goers. With that said Unknown is an ok action thriller. Liam Nesson is comfortable here as a man who may not be who he thinks he is. Liam Neeson is an all around good actor so anything he does is pretty good. He wasn't outstanding or anything but he does a decent job. DIane Kruger is fine as the taxi driver who gets caught up with Liam Neeson's character because she just happens to be in the wrong place at the wrong time. January Jones who plays Neeson's "wife" is average and while she delivers her lines in a weird almost monotone voice she is still very good looking and not a horrible actress. The whole plot kept me very intrigued and interested but once the final twist comes i found myself having mixed feelings about it. In some ways it works and makes sense but in a way I felt let down and after being interested for most of the film i was like "Oh that was it". Its just one of those twists that I didn't hate but I felt it could have been done better.

The action in the movie is average and because of the confusing marketing strategy your left waiting for Liam Neeson to start kicking some ass but that doesn't really come until the third act of the movie. For me the most tense part of the movie was when Martin was reaching for a pair of scissors to cut loose his zip tie handcuffs before the bad guys came back to kill him. That scene was done very well and I was on the edge of my seat.

Overall Unknown was ok but nothing great or special. Liam Neeson was fine but i was just waiting for him to start kicking some major ass and as I said he really doesn't start doing that until the end. This movie falls in line of some of it worked and some of it didn't. It started out very well and I was intrigued by the mystery of the whole plot, but the final twist is somewhat of a letdown.

B-

I AM NUMBER FOUR

I Am Number Four stars Alex Pettyfer, Timothy Olyphant, Dianna Agron, Teresa Palmer, Callan McAuliffe and Kevin Durand. Directed by D.J. Caruso. Rated PG-13 with a running time of 1 hr. and 44 mins. Studio: Buena Vista/DreamWorks.

John Smith (Alex Pettyfer) is a fugitive from the planet Lorien on the run from ruthless enemies sent to destroy him. Changing his identity, moving from town to town with his guardian Henri (Timothy Olyphant), John is always the new kid with no ties to his past. In the small Ohio town he now calls home, John encounters unexpected, life-changing events; his first love (Dianna Agron), powerful new abilities and a connection to the others who share his incredible destiny.

I Am Number Four was a pleasant surprise. While in no means is it a great movie, I have to say that it is the best movie I have seen in 2011 so far. Its got all the elements of an entertaining movie: action, drama and romance (which I think is the one of the weaker parts of the movie). Lets start with the lead actor Alex Pettyfer. This is his first major starring role and I think he did a good job. He perfected all of the emotions his character goes through and he doesn't over act it. Lets just say he is no Taylor Lautner or Robert Pattinson which of course is good news for Pettyfer. I had to make the Twilight reference since some people have been comparing I Am Number Four to Twilight, and I think I Am Number Four is infinitely better than that garbage Twilight. Pettyfer's love interest is Dianna Agron and she does fine for what she has to do but I didn't see anything special from her. Timothy Olyphant plays Henri who is Johns guardian and he did a good job too. You could tell that his character really cared for John and he wants him to succeed and defeat the mongadorians who are trying to kill John, even though John feels he can be over protective. Yeah I know the name Mongadorians is pretty corny but whatever. Teresa Palmer plays Number 6 and she does some cool fight scenes and kicks some Mongadorian ass, but shes really only in the movie for the last 25 minutes.

Michael Bay produced this film and I was very worried about that. But for it being a Michael Bay production there weren't too many mindless explosions and you could actually tell what was going on in the action scenes unlike his other movies like Transformers. The action wasn't anything new or groundbreaking but it was still entertaining. This movie is set in high school and so of course you have your bullies that John butts heads with and of course you have John sticking up for the school nerd and of course you have John falling for the misunderstood hot blonde girl. The movie has all of your high school cliches and it gets a bit tiring but the story intrigued me enough to keep me interested. I actually would like to see a sequel to this movie because they have a lot of other stories to explore. The film ends with Number Four and Number 6 going to search for numbers 5,7,8 and 9. Don't worry the beginning of the movie explains why there isn't any numbers 1,2 and 3 around. Im very intrigued by the idea of having more numbers out there and seeing their powers.

Now to the stuff that didn't really work. The film tries to have the teenage angst like the Twilight movies. To me that was the weakest part of the movie and it was boring to watch. I know they have to have a love interest but I'm just sick of seeing it this way over and over in so many movies. The villains of the movie were also kind of weak. Kevin Durand hams it up playing the leader of the Mongadorians. If they make a sequel to the movie they definitely need some better villains or better actors to portray them.

I Am Number Four isn't perfect or really good by any means but it was still a surprise. I went to see this movie thinking it would be really bad but I'm glad I was wrong. For any future sequels there needs to be better villains and they should probably step up the action a little bit. Also if they explore the other numbers and keep the intriguing spirit from this movie then i think the sequels could be a lot better. The studio obviously wants to make this a franchise and I think that wish can become a reality. I Am Number Four was a fair movie.

B-

JUST GO WITH IT

Just Go With It stars Adam Sandler, Jennifer Aniston, Brooklyn Decker, Nicole Kidman and Nick Swardson. Directed by Dennis Dugan. Rated PG-13 with a running time of 1 hr. and 50 mins. Studio: Sony/Columbia.

Danny (Sandler) is a plastic surgeon who wears a fake wedding ring and makes up bogus lies like his wife beats him or cheats on him. For some reason in Adam Sandler's world girls fall for this. Danny is falling for Palmer (Decker) but she finds his fake wedding ring. So Danny enlists his assistant (Aniston) and her kids to pose as his fake family. He tells Palmer that he is getting a divorce. Basically lie after lie leads them all to Hawaii for a trip that will change their lives. Hmmmm i wonder if Sandler will fall for Aniston's character?

Adam Sandler can be funny and other times he can fail miserably (remember You Don't Mess with the Zohan). Here he falls in the middle. He is funny in this film but other times he fails. The supporting group consists of Jennifer Aniston and Brooklyn Decker. Jennifer Aniston does fine but its basically what you would expect from her lately. This was Decker's first film role and i have to say she wasn't that bad and of course she looks great in a bikini. Nicole Kidman had a small part in the movie and I have to say I have no idea why she is in this. She is a respected dramatic actress so I don't know why she chose to do a lame comedy like this. She wasn't even funny so I would say she should stick to dramas.

I've learned that Adam Sandler will do anything for a laugh and thats why we have a scene in this movie with a character giving the heimlich manuver to a sheep. Yeah you read that right. I just wish Sandler would calm down and actually think and come up with some funny material. He does do that half the time in the movie so thats why it works sometimes. Imagine if he thought carefully and produced funny material for the whole movie, then he would have a very good movie. But he always squeezes in potty humor that was funny in the 5th grade. The plot in this movie made absolutely no sense oh and not to mention it was very predictable.

Like I said Just Go With It isn't as bad as it could have been but it could have been a lot better too. Im still hoping that one day Adam Sandler will make a really funny movie. But probably not because this formula has worked again and again for him and this movie made 30 million over the weekend, so it looks like someone thinks his movies are hilarious. Just Go With It is another mediocre comedy.

C

THE MECHANIC (2011)

The Mechanic stars Jason Statham, Ben Foster, Donald Sutherland and Tony Goldwyn. Directed by Simon West. Rated R with a running time of 1 hr. and 40 mins.

Arthur Bishop (Jason Statham) is a mechanic, an elite assassin with a strict code and unique talent for cleanly eliminating targets. It's a job that requires professional perfection and total detachment, and Bishop is the best in the business. But when his mentor and close friend Harry (Donald Sutherland) is murdered, Bishop is anything but detached. His next assignment is self-imposed, he wants those responsible dead. His mission grows complicated when Harry's son Steve (Ben Foster) approaches him with the same vengeful goal and a determination to learn Bishop's trade. Bishop has always acted alone but he can't turn his back on Harry's son. A methodical hit man takes an impulsive student deep into his world and a deadly partnership is born. But while in pursuit of their ultimate mark, deceptions threaten to surface and those hired to fix problems become problems themselves.

The Mechanic is pretty much what you would expect from a Jason Statham movie. It had some cool action and some funny moments in it. Its just not a very good movie and kind of a disappointment. I mean Jason Statham does what he always does and kicks some ass which is fine and it works. Overall the cast was fine but its the script that is the problem. After a cool beginning action sequence the film becomes pretty slow and there isn't any more action until at least 40 minutes in and who are we kidding we go to these kind of movies for the action!

The film has two major weaknesses. 1. the film didn't have a strong villain. To me a good action pic always had a good villain but Tony Goldwyn isn't mean enough and actually really isn't even the movie that much. 2. There was not a strong climax. There is a climax but once it starts its over within 5 minutes and it didn't even feel like the end of the movie. There was definite pacing problems with the climax so it just didn't work out. The Mechanic wasn't terrible but it did have some major issues that kept it from being a good action film. The only reason to see this movie is Jason Statham because he is as good as ever at kicking some ass.

C+