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All Movie Info
Starring:
Jessica Biel, Adam Sandler, Steve Buscemi, Kevin James, Dan Aykroyd, Ving Rhames, Richard Chamberlain, Nicholas Turturro, Tyler Nilson, Shelby Adamowsky, Christopher L. Antie, Jim Ford, Betsy Rue, Taylor Gerard Hart, John Boyd, Dante Henderson, Ethan Scheid, Gary Valentine, Jamie Chung, Tila Nguyen, Cole Morgen, Steve Stanulis, Billy Concha, Ethan Scheid, Larry Newman, Candace Kita
Directed By:
Dennis Dugan
Written By:
Barry Fanaro, Alexander Payne, Jim Taylor
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I Now Pronounce You Chuck and Larry (2007)
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Movie Review by Jarrod
July 21st, 2007
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Adam Sandler has not made a comedy in some time, which I think is a good thing, but his real acting talent was showcased in Punch-Drunk Love and Spanglish, while his angry man-child persona has been unleashed repeatedly in Billy Madison, Happy Gilmore, The Waterboy, and Big Daddy. In 'Chuck and Larry', he plays a lothario, a womanizer who must pretend to be gay. He does this for his friend and co-worker, Larry Valentine (James), a widower who must find a partner so that he can list his children as the beneficiaries of his life insurance policy. The legal specifics of this are muddled, but the premise has potential, heterosexuals masquerading as homosexuals, and if handled more intelligently, we might have had a success. Chuck and Larry are both firefighters. Firefighters are usually shown as the epitome of manliness and machismo, so gay ones are usually rarely seen. Chuck and Larry's "secret" makes them virtual outcasts, and the other men are nervous around them, especially in the shower.
The fire chief (Aykroyd) suspects that their relationship is a scam, and they are hounded by a fraud inspector named Clinton Fitzer (Buscemi). And, of course, Larry has to try and explain everything to his kids, and a humiliating and offensive scene has Larry at school for career day, where one of the students asks him if he is a butt pirate, as his dad says. There are many homophobic jokes and gags such as this one to be found in the movie, and it also presents many stereotypes, like Duncan (Rhames), a hulking colleague of Larry's who comes out of the closet and starts to behave very effeminately. Then, the movie embraces a message of tolerance, and celebrates and pays respect to the gay lifestyle, perhaps as an act of penance.
But, it cannot go both ways. Rob Schneider shows up as an obnoxious and disgusting Asian caricature. Jessica Biel is Alex, Larry's lawyer, whom Chuck falls for, after she and he go shopping together. After all, she thinks he is gay, and he tries to conceal his obvious attraction to her. Sandler admittedly is not that amusing here, nor is he particularly convincing as a Don Juan, though his looks would certainly pass. James is forgettable, but very likable, and tries to master the art of physical humor, but fails quite miserably. Biel actually gives the best performance, though she should figure out a lot earlier that Chuck is just faking the whole gay thing, but the script requires her to be ignorant of this until the end.
Aykroyd and Buscemi are both embarrassing, in awkward and thankless roles, with the former giving a particularly groan-inducing speech, that just puts another nail in the lid of his career's coffin. I wonder about the contribution of Alexander Payne, who wrote and directed the wonderful Election and Sideways, and About Schmidt, along with Jim Taylor. This misfire seems well-beneath their talents, buy everyone makes mistakes, I guess.
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