Will audiences clamor for 'Hall Pass' or 'Drive Angry'?

By Sarah Sluis

The leader of the pack this weekend is Hall Pass (2,950 theatres), which our critic Ethan Alter described as the strongest Farrelly Brothers picture in years, "marrying their familiar raunchy sensibilities with a new�dare I say it?�maturity." Starring Owen Wilson and Jason Sudeikis, the movie centers on the week their spouses give them a "hall pass" to cheat and see what they're missing--or not. A few reviewers, including Alter, have singled out Richard Jenkins' performance as a lothario, so "hysterical" he "handily steals away the movie." Box-office predictions hem the comedy to no more than $20 million--likely lower.

Most publications haven't yet reviewed Drive Angry (2,290 theatres), the 3D vengeance-beyond-the-grave-with-a-speeding-car movie. Nicolas Cage stars in the "Cagespoitation" picture, "a whole new subgenre of filmmaking" according to one reviewer. The talented Cage has a notoriously erratic track record, perhaps because he values a hefty paycheck--the large-living star is now in the throes of insolvency. Amber Heard co-stars in the movie, which bears resemblance to exploitation movies in the 70s. Expected to open below Hall Pass, there's a chance a returning film could outsell Drive Angry.

Justin Bieber: Never Say Never is trying to woo back tweeners for a repeat viewing with a "special edition" that includes 40 more minutes guaranteed to induce Bieber Fever. I pity the parents who must endure another round of begging before hauling their kids to another screening of the 3D concert film, especially because our critic David Noh found the original 105-minute version "a mite overextended."

With the Oscars on Sunday, awards films should see a boost. Many nominated films are expanding into additional theatres. The top-ten drama The King's Speech is adding 300 theatres for a total of 2,386. Movies that largely exited theatres months ago, such as Winter's Bone (+115, total of 135) and The Social Network (+156 theatres, total of 269), are getting back in the game to take advantage of Oscar publicity.

The Oscar-nominated Of Gods and Men (3 theatres) will also open, though critic Daniel Eagan didn't think too highly of the drama's "careful, non-threatening" take that "substitutes a false piety for difficult issues of faith and dogma." He cynically acknowledges that this easy-to-swallow point-of-view makes the French movie "perfect Best Foreign-language Film Oscar bait." We'll see if it wins on Sunday.