The premise of Hall Pass posits that married couples stop having sex that matters and two decades into matrimony give their spouse a “hall pass” that provides a week off-marriage. In other words have sex without fear of retribution and then go back to normal life. The thing is these husbands are dorks (Owen Wilson with a dork haircut to let you know how uncool he is, and Jason Sudeikis who must be a dork because he naturally reminds one of Nick Swardson.) and they haven’t dated in a generation. Their game is off. Of course this is a movie because these dweebs are married to no less than Christina Applegate and Jenna Fischer.

They’re not the only one whose game is off. The directors of Hall Pass, Bobby and Peter Farrelly are totally out of the zone. They direct like a small boat in a mighty river, the wakes of which barely creates ripples in the water. These guys practically perfected the gross out comedy with films like Kingpin and There’s Something About Mary. While Hall Pass displays quality production values the laugh quotient never equals the attempts at same. The Farrelly Brothers aren’t the only ones attempting to imitate past success with weak efforts. Look at James L. Brooks’ last film also starring Owen Wilson titled How Do You Know, a mediocre romantic comedy at best.

That’s not to say that Brooks or the Farrellys cannot regain their magic touch, although it seems unlikely. It looks like Todd Phillips, whose Hangover 2 opens this summer, may be the new poster boy for deranged comedies. At least his films are getting better with each effort if Due Date is any indication. Hangover even has a female version, called Bridesmaids, rated R of course and in theaters in two months.

- Michael Bergeron