“I Now Pronounce You Chuck & Larry” (Universal Pictures)
Wedded Blahs
Adam Sandler and Kevin James star in the new comedy “I Now Pronounce You Chuck & Larry” and that should mean big laughs at the local cinema. Instead this film ends up being a concoction of flat jokes, unlikable characters and demeaning characterizations. Everything that could go wrong with a comedy goes wrong with this one, and only the few jokes that are shown in the trailers for the film are actually funny. This is a movie that goes out of control early on and stays off the beaten path.
Chuck Levine (Sandler) and Larry Valentine (James) are buddies at the local fire department. They get along even though their life styles are entirely opposite. Chuck is a womanizer of the worst kind while Larry is a grieving widower with two children. One day on the job Larry saves Chuck’s life. Chuck swears that because of this he will do anything Larry asks of him.
When Larry learns that because of a legal fluke he can not change the beneficiary for his work benefits from his dead wife to his best friend, he is quite upset. Then he learns he can change it if he remarries. This leads him to ask Chuck to become his domestic partner as in a gay relationship. Chuck reluctantly agrees to this fraud provided no one knows about it.
Everything goes smoothly until an investigator shows up asking questions. This leads to Chuck and Larry being “outed” and problems ensue. They hire an attorney (Jessica Biel) and Chuck immediately falls in lust with her. Of course he can’t act on it without blowing their cover story.
All of this sounds fairly amusing and some of it is, but too much of it is cheap and smarmy. The movie preaches a message of tolerance and acceptance of homosexuality but then delivers some of the worst stereotypes possible. It pokes fun at gay people but then embraces them.
Sandler’s character never becomes totally likable and this is a major flaw of the film. You need to like Chuck and Larry both for the movie to work. Biel looks great but never creates a total character either. The members of the supporting cast are all outrageous in one form or another.
The film is rated PG-13 for profanity, nudity and sexual situations.
“I Now Pronounce You Chuck & Larry” does have some funny moments but not enough to make the movie worthwhile. And when you add in its muddled message the movie has to be written off as a loser. Sandler and James have great comic potential but it is never realized in this confused film.
I scored “I Now Pronounce You Chuck & Larry” a divorced 4 out of 10.
