Monday, March 28, 2011

Owen Wilson, A Family Man Distracted By Beautiful Women in �Hall Pass�


Owen Wilson stars as Rick, a suburban dad easily distracted by beautiful women, in New Line Cinema's raunchy comedy �Hall Pass.� �Most guys can�t help noticing a good-looking woman walk by, but some of them do a better job at being subtle about it,� explains Wilson. �With others, like Rick, it�s like they have their heads on a swivel.�

In the film, best friends Rick and Fred (Jason Sudeikis) have both been married for a long time. They love their wives, but, like some guys, just can�t help checking out every other woman who crosses their paths. Fed up with this habitual rubber-necking, their wives (Jenna Fischer and Christina Applegate) take a bold approach to revitalize their marriages by granting their husbands a �hall pass�: one week of freedom to do whatever they want, no questions asked. Seven days to see exactly what it is out there they think they�re missing�or stop looking once and for all.

Rick is happily married, with kids and a wife he loves. He has a good job, a nice existence but, like a lot of men, he can�t help noticing women and this irritates his wife,� says co-director Peter Farrelly.

It�s more Rick�s emotional arc that propels the story so it�s important that the audience likes him,� notes co-director Bobby Farrelly. �That�s one of the reasons we cast Owen Wilson, because he has such an inherent likeability and decency. He�s very funny, but also someone you can get behind and want to support.� In such a potentially polarizing role, being able to convey that core decency is key.

Pegging Rick as �kind of a schlub,� Wilson explains, �It�s not that his marriage is bad, just a little predictable, and he has this illusion that if he was still out there, single, he�d just be crushing it. But that�s not necessarily the case. He really has no idea what it�s like anymore. Besides, you have to wonder if he was ever that great to begin with.�

As Rick, Wilson got the opportunity to portray a character not as successful with women as he imagines - in contrast to some of the actor�s best-known roles. Says Peter, �Owen is usually Mr. Slick on screen, the charming, good-looking dude, but he can also be goofy. We thought it would be interesting for him to play a guy who struggles to be noticed.�

Owen Wilson is one of contemporary cinema�s most successful actors, and has won great acclaim for his memorable turns in mainstream and independent films. His string of box office successes includes the recent �Marley & Me,� with Jennifer Aniston, based on the popular memoir by John Grogan; the acclaimed Disney/Pixar animated feature �Cars,� �Night at the Museum� and its sequel �Night at the Museum 2: Battle of the Smithsonian,� opposite Robin Williams and Ben Stiller; and the smash hit comedy �Wedding Crashers,� opposite Vince Vaughn.

Wilson will soon reprise his role as the voice of Lightning McQueen in �Cars 2,� scheduled to open in August 2011.

Opening across the Philippines on April 6, �Hall Pass� is a New Line Cinema presentation to be distributed by Warner Bros. Pictures, a Warner Bros. Entertainment Company.


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