I Now Pronounce You Chuck and Larry is a funny ha-ha movie about two manly fireman who have to pose as a gay couple in order for one to guarantee his pension benefits will go to his children. It stars Adam Sandler, Kevin James, and Jessica Biel. Don’t go into this expecting some kind of preachy politically correct social satire. It’s basically one big gay joke with a bit of a message at the end.

The entire premise of this movie is a bit hokey, if you think about it. The whole gay marriage thing stemmed from Kevin James’ character wanting to change his benefit recipients. When he goes to the office to do so, he is told that he can only make changes in the event of a birth, death, or marriage. The problem was that his wife had been dead for more than a year and he missed the one-year deadline for making the changes. If the Hollywood writers knew anything about working in the real world, they’d know that most employers allow annual changes to their benefits, so people can make adjustments regarding 401k, insurance benefits, and so on. Basically, the plot hinges on a problem that doesn’t really exist. James’ character could have just waited a few months for the annual benefits adjustment period to come around.

After Sandler and James declare their love for each other, the pension board launched an investigation into the nature of their relationship. This was done basically just to make sure they weren’t two straight guys posing as gays just to reap the benefits. A lot of the funny parts in this movie are where these two tough guy fireman have to act out in front of the investigators. To make matters worse, the gorgeous Jessica Biel plays their lawyer and Sandler quickly develops a big crush on her, but he’d blow his cover if he made a move. Steve Buscemi has a supporting role as a very anal pension investigator who goes to great lengths to try and prove that James and Sandler are faking the whole thing. All the while this is going on, their fellow fireman aren’t too happy knowing they have to share a shower room with them.

Some might say this movie deftly portrays what it is like for homosexuals to live and work in a predominantly heterosexual environment. I think that would be a big stretch considering that this movie plays on pretty much every gay stereotype out there. From the cross-dressers to the overly masculine-looking men with very feminine mannerisms, it doesn’t even try to be realistic. There’s even a shower scene involving dancing, singing, and two terrified fireman who accidentally drop their soap. There’s also very liberal use of the F-word, and I’m not talking about the four-letter one. I can see how some people might find this movie very offensive.

Tom Selleck recently spoke out about his refusal to do a cameo in the upcoming Magnum, P.I. movie because he knows it will be a farce and he doesn’t want his fans to think he is endorsing it. This movie gets two well-known homosexuals to appear in cameo roles, as if to endorse the movie for the gay community. First, there is Richard Chamberlain, the Shogun star who just recently came out of the closet. Most people who go see Adam Sandler movies probably have no idea who he was. Second, there was Lance Bass of N’Sync. When Lance appeared on the screen, my theater audience laughed at him. They weren’t laughing because he was doing anything funny, because all he was doing was singing. They were laughing because he’s gay and he appeared in this movie. Whatever kind of effect the filmmakers were going for by putting him in that small role probably didn’t work the way they planned, because I’m pretty sure he was not supposed to be laughed at just for being there.

In the end, I thought I Now Pronounce You Chuck and Larry was one of Adam Sandler’s funniest movies in years, but it’s one that needs to be taken with the proverbial grain of salt. I still can’t help but think it has a bit of a mean steak in it, but squeezes in just enough sensitivity to get it past the middle-of-the-fence critics. The Birdcage, this is not.


Recommended: Yes

Movie Mood: Funny Movie