MOVIE REVIEW: I Pronounce You Chuck And Larry

07/18/07

Double whammy! I’m talking about Kevin James (Larry) and Adam Sandler (Chuck) working together in a comedy. This is Hitch to a whole different level. Although, speaking of Hitch, I think Kevin’s role was funnier in that one, but it’s all good. I laughed often, laughed-slapped my knee a couple times and laughed-clapped a couple times as well. This one goes to the higher rankings of funniest film of the year. It has competition, but it is definitely a challenger. It did a great job of balancing such a sensitive subject as homosexuality with some Happy Madison style humor. The PG-13 rating was stretched to the limit though.

Larry never reassigns his beneficiaries after his wife dies. Being a firefighter, he realizes that he could lose his own life at any moment and his children would not receive the benefits. The most practical solution is to re-marry. Instead of just marrying a woman on the fly, he decides to marry someone he can trust . . . his extremely heterosexual co-worker and best buddy, Chuck, who happens to owe him a big favor. Larry cashes in on the I.O.U. to a very reluctant Chuck. The complication starts when their partnership is put under the microscope by authorities who are speculative due to an increase in fraudulent cases. The story was well presented. It wasn’t all jokes too. There was a taste of drama (Larry dealing with his departed wife), a taste of a love story (Chuck falls for Alex, Jessica Biel), and a strong taste of the social/cultural issue of the modern day, easily overlooked prejudice towards homosexuals. After all, they are still human beings like everyone else.

This picture has a cast worthy of envy. Starting with the two stars who are undoubtedly in the class of funniest active performers, down to smaller but effective appearances by Richard Chamberlain, Lance Bass, and even Dave Matthews. Yeap, Dave Matthews. It is nice to see how Adam stays loyal to his crew of actors that always seem to pop up in his movies. The number one of that bunch being Rob Schneider. I’ll let you guess what role he plays in this one. All these performances were super but there were three that stood out. Ving Rhames playing a gay firefighter is about as off the wall as Gov. Schwarzenegger playing a pregnant man. Ving nailed it and was totally hilarious. Priscilla wouldn’t stop talking about it afterwards. Dan Aykroyd as the chief firefighter, Chuck and Larry’s boss, was just perfectly cast. The first generation SNL star as a boss to a later generation SNL star is symbolic. Props to Dan. The third honorable mention does not exactly go to this actresses’ performance, but more so to her body. Yes, yes, I apologize, but being a heterosexual man I cannot leave this out. Jessica Biel is one of the hottest women of the big screen today, and boy, did she gives us a treat. Wawaweewa!

Director Dennis Dugan (Benchwarmers, Bid Daddy, Happy Gilmore) once again throws us a comedic masterpiece for our enjoyment. With a cast like this, you can’t go wrong. He does take a risk with the theme this time, but I believe he pulled it off in an entertaining and light-hearted way. He even manages to get an important message out as well. A little over 2 hours is pretty long for a comedy, but this one didn’t seem long at all. It was quite enjoyable.