| I NOW PRONOUNCE YOU CHUCK AND LARRY |
 2007 - USADirector: Dennis Dugan
- Reviewed by Vickie
Sandler co-stars as sexist womanizer Chuck Levine, a NYC firefighter and unapologetic cad whose best friend and co-worker, single-dad Larry Valentine (Kevin James), saves his life during a job. In return, Chuck vows to return the favor anytime, anywhere and under any circumstances. Cut to Larry getting the shaft from the union’s pension department and devising a scheme whereby his young children will be financially sound in the event of his death: fake a gay marriage to Chuck, who would take over as the kids’ guardian and executor of the pension benefits. This is intended to result in a hilarious story of two (straight) fish out of water trying to create the façade of loving same-sex relationship, but winds up being surprisingly offensive in a way that seems very out of place in 2007. When they begin to fear the authorities might discover their ruse, the duo enlist the aid of comely gay-rights attorney Alex McDonough (a badly miscast Jessica Biel), who believes the two are for real and who tries to look stern with her serious-lady glasses and power suits...but who really just looks like Jessica Biel playing dress up and reading cue cards. Sad. Using the same clichéd schtick that we’ve seen countless times before, Chuck and Larry try to “learn” about gay culture...so, naturally, they head to an AIDS benefit filled with outrageous, costumed gay men prancing around and behaving like barely dressed, over-caffeinated Broadway performers at Mardi Gras. Because that’s what gay life is all about, right? Conveniently, Alex has a gay brother (Nick Swardson), a mincing prisspot who bounces through the proceedings in—no joke—silver lamé hotpants and giant, glittery, silver butterfly wings. Because that’s how gay men behave, right? They march in a Pride parade, once again packed to the curbs with outlandish people in insane costumes, and go shopping to fill their home with “gay stuff” like KY Jelly and shampoo for permed hair. And thus the offensive and inaccurate stereotypes are once again broadcast to the masses! Larry’s pre-teen son is ripped right from Ugly Betty—a showtunes-loving, tap-dancing girlie boy who surely must be gay, and don’t get me started on Ving Rhames’ character, who starts out looking like he might be a pleasant exception to the sissified-gay rule but who winds up (warning: mild spoiler ahead) going from tough-as-nails, badass brute to finger-snapping “girlfriend!” the moment he comes out. Why couldn’t he have admitted he was gay...and still stayed the same? Are there no tough gay men in the world? Apparently, not in the world of this film. The “gay panic” angle exists not only in Chuck, who’s initially disgusted by the whole idea, but in all of the guys’ fellow firefighters. Once Chuck and Larry’s “marriage” becomes known, we’re treated to more comedy retreading like having everyone at the station house freak out by a dropped bar of soap in the communal shower (HAAAAR har har har! what a knee-slapper!). I mean, hasn’t that been done, like, a hundred times by now? And the continued repulsion demonstrated by Chuck and Larry whenever they might have to kiss each other on the mouth was needlessly juvenile. It doesn’t help that the two never actually have to kiss for real—I kept waiting for one of them to clue in that, hey, it’s no big deal after all and for a liplock to ensue... but it never happened. Yes, the filmmakers make a feeble attempt to show how much Chuck and Larry learn about accepting gay men and women for who they are, but it’s too little too late. The “heart” that they try to shove to the forefront at film’s end does little to counterbalance the absurdity that preceded it. Who cares if Chuck now thinks it’s wrong to use the word “faggot” (a word that gets tossed around a lot in the movie), when he’s still so clearly grossed out by perhaps having to make out with Larry? And are we really meant to believe that the entire gay and lesbian community would champion and applaud a straight-male couple defrauding the system when their doing so undermines the struggles of legitimate gay couples to be recognized under the law? Fat chance. The messages are more than mixed, and the audience with whom I saw the film were clearly laughing at two straight guys having to pretend to be gay and *not* at the ridiculousness of their homophobia. I don't think that's what Sandler et al. intended. At least, I certainly hope it's not. |
| Home | Currently Playing | For Rent | Video Obsession ©2007 Moviepie e-mail us |
With his latest comedy, Adam Sandler—who’s hardly known for subtle
humor—attempts, I think, to make a pro-gay movie, but instead
winds up playing into every tired stereotype out there, treading on
politically incorrect territory in a non-ironic way, perpetuating the
unfunniness of “gay panic” (wherein characters are horrified at the
notion of homosexuality or being perceived as gay) and missing the mark
by a mile.
