I Now Pronounce You Chuck & Larry DVD: Review By Dodd

The representation of gays and lesbians in film has really come a long way in the past decade. However, I couldn't help but notice an article in last month's Entertainment Weekly about how queer-centric scripts are having a difficult time being sold in Hollywood. This is despite the box office successes of films such as Brokeback Mountain and The Birdcage. It also mentions that in lieu of such films there have been the release and successes of other projects that involve such queerness, but in a rather insensitive, clueless, and homophobic manner. One of these flicks happens to be I Now Pronounce You Chuck and Larry. With 2007 said and done, many critics have concluded that it is one of the worst films to be released this year. While I can't say the film stoops that low, it is easy to see why others would be offended by its naivety.

Our two title characters are Chuck (Adam Sandler) and Larry (Kevin James). Both men are red-blooded New York City firefighters who thrive on chat about basketball and ladies. Bachelor Chuck is particularly fond of women as he manages to stash hordes of lingerie-clad sluts in his spacious bedroom. Larry, on the other hand, is recently widowed and raising two children on his own. He is particularly frightened of the fact that he cannot make his children primary beneficiaries of his assets while he is putting himself in the line of danger every day on the job. The only way his children can benefit is if Larry remarries someone trustworthy to become a new beneficiary and pass the money along to his children. I think we all know where this goes.....

Larry hatches the idea with pal Chuck to have a gay wedding in Canada so that trusting Chuck can collect the funds. As imagined, crazy antics ensue. And how can they not when you put two buffoons together to play gay? Inspectors come sniffing around the men's "residence" looking for proof that the men are indeed faking the partnership for monetary reasons. This is when they seek the aid of attorney Alex McDonough, who happens to be a smoking-hot Jessica Biel. As if being gay is not difficult enough, the womanizing Chuck must now control his erection around Alex while staying loyal to Larry's plan. I will not give away whether or not these men learn profound lessons about life and equality in the end. After all, do I really need to?

I Now Pronounce You Chuck and Larry is not nearly as offensive and terrible to me as it is with many other critics. Perhaps this is from the years spent in high school and college where desensitization to homophobic humor is inevitable. However, when taking a step back and glancing at the film, it is easy to see why it comes off so wrong to some. The combination of humor and preachiness makes a film that doesn't really know what it wants to be, like a bi-curious jock that mutters derogatory names one minute, and wears his girlfriend's panties the next. The idea is that Chuck and Larry are supposed to learn a lesson about the hardships of being homosexual and unaccepted by society in general. It just seems a bit hypocritical that half of the humor in the movie is itself homophobic. I will admit to letting out a snicker from time to time, but many of the jokes here are awkward and cringe-inducing. This is coming from a guy who thinks jokes about farting and dropping the soap are way too overplayed in comedy.

Now Sandler and James do a decent job playing off one another, but the real deal here are the cameos. I am not really referring to the expected appearance from Rob Schneider. We do get appearances from David Spade, Steve Buscemi, Rob Corddry, Richard Chamberlin, and David Matthews (whose appearance is quite possibly the funniest moment in the film). We even get an appearance from recently-out Lance Bass crooning at a gay wedding. It is evident that homosexual celebs such as Chamberlin and Bass are part of this project to support the cause, but I really wonder if they supported their own choices after observing the finished product. Sometimes watching this movie is like watching a male chauvinist unconvincingly explain how much he cares about homosexuality.

Laughing is Contagious

For six minutes we are treated to a montage of the cast and crew cracking themselves up on the set from the movie scenes. That's really about it. Even if you find the movie funny, this is still a waste of DVD space.

I Now Pronounce You Husband and Husband

I am not sure how this featurette differentiates much from the previous featurette and how it relates to the title that much. For five minutes, the cast members blankly talk about how great it was to work with the cast. Predictable supplemental features are such a drag.

Look Who Stopped By

Kevin James and Adam Sandler comment on those who provided cameos. Now this featurette is actually worth watching because cameos are generally unpredictable. In fact, they are one of the few things unpredictable about the movie.

At this point I feel the need to stop putting such a strong separation between the featurettes. These things overlap one another so much that I think summarizing the rest in fewer words would be more fitting. Stop, Drop, and Roll is a five minute piece that describes the very few stunts that are in this Sandler comedy. Dugan: Hands-On Director focuses on director and frequent Sandler collaborator Dennis Dugan, and how much fun James and Sandler had working with the filmmaker, who also cameos in the film as a homophobe cab driver.

Commentary

There are two tracks on this DVD. The first is with Kevin James, Adam Sandler, and director Dennis Dugan. Even if the movie isn't the best, these guys have a good time coming together and shooting the breeze about shenanigans on the set. They also spend a lot of time just laughing, which gets old at times. The second track with Dennis Dugan alone pales in comparison and I am not sure why this slow and boring monologue is included. Dugan did a much more enthusiastic job on the commentary for Saving Silverman, so this is rather disappointing.

Widescreen. It is difficult to gauge how a Sandler movie looks. The direction is never unique because it focuses so much on gags alone. The only thing left to observe is that the DVD transfer is clean, as are most transfers today.

5.1 Dolby Digital. The film's sound is just as uneventful as the visual direction. There are the occasional catchy numbers on the soundtrack, but the score is utterly forgettable.

The film is in a standard DVD case and on one disc. The front cover contains original poster art of James holding Sandler in a newlywed pose.

I Now Pronounce You Chuck and Larry is a pretty underwhelming DVD. The film's jokes come through from time to time, but certainly not enough or not convincingly. The special features are also unbearably lame at times. I can't tell if Adam Sandler used to make genuinely funny comedies or if I just grew up and became the movie snob that I am today. I do think Sandler has had much better collaborations with director Dennis Dugan (Happy Gilmore, Big Daddy), and those are certainly worth revisiting rather than wasting time with this disappointing outing.

Questions? Comments? Just want to talk movies? Drop me a line at dodd@movieweb.com