Plot Details: This opinion reveals minor details about the movie's plot.

I Now Pronounce You Chuck and Larry (2007) Directed by Dennis Dugan

Renaldo: "Ya hear that?  I'm a ten!"
Bailiff: "Yeah, out of a hundred."
Renaldo: "You're just jealous ‘cause gay guys dig me!"

I Now Pronounce You Chuck and Larry.  I have been putting this one off.  One, Adam Sandler is not my sort of humor.  He hits the right note occasionally, but not enough for me.  And the movie is rife with gay stereotypes; heck, stereo types of all kinds.  It's a love/hate relationship.

The plot is simple.  Larry Valentine (Kevin James) is a fireman.  He lost his wife two years ago, and has not really recovered.  Now, he realizes how precarious a position his kids are in; his wife is his beneficiary, and the dead line for reassignment of benefits has passed.  But something the case worker said struck a nerve.  Marriage allows for reassignment.  So all he has to do is get married.
The problem is there is one person he would trust his kids to; Chuck Levine (Adam Sandler) his partner.  Chuck has a reputation with women.  Chuck is...well, here is a quote. "I'm not an animal.  I'm a wh*re!"  But as a fireman, and a friend, he is rock solid.  So rock solid that when Larry proposes his wild scheme, he listens.  Larry wants to get a domestic partnership which would allow Chuck to be his kid's guardian if the worst should happen.

Larry Valentine: Domestic partnership.
Chuck Levine: Domestic partnership? You mean like f*gg*ts?
Larry Valentine: No, I mean yea but, no, not us. Obviously. Just on paper.
Chuck Levine: Paper f*gg*ts?
Larry Valentine: Well, the accepted vernacular is gay... but yes.

Nicely summed up, there is the basic plot.  Now, for complications.  First, there is a process to check and makes sure no one is defrauding the system.  Just like Green Card marriages these cases are investigated.  And the person responsible is Clint Fitzer (Steve Buscemi) and he smells a rat.

So they check with a lawyer, Alex McDonough (Jessica Biel) to see how much trouble they could be in.  The answer; a lot.  So now they are stuck with making this farce work. And just to really muck things up, Chuck finds Alex irresistible.

The Analysis

The Bad.

Oh, my stars, where to start?  Oh, wait; Rob Schneider as the Asian Minister who married them.  It was embarrassing and degrading; like Mickey Rooney in Breakfast at Tiffany's. 

Steve Buscemi turns in a rare weak performance as the anal retentive Fitzer.

Fart humor, fat humor, gay humor, endless juvenile gags, including dropping the soap.  Limp wristed impersonations and caricatures, this movie is a text book of what is not politically correct. 

Larry Valentine: Chuck, we really pulled this one out our asses.
Chuck Levine: Bad choice of words there, Larry. Bad choice of words.

Yeah, there are a lot of bad choices of words here.

The Good.

So, if this movie is tacky, insulting and degrading, what is it I like about it?  Well, there are a couple of great performances by ancillary characters.  Dan Aykroyd as the no nonsense rapid fire Captain Phineas J. Tucker "If these two men are gay then I'm a one-legged parrot. Anybody see me with a crutch and a cracker?" and Ving Rhames as the also gay Fred G. Duncan.  "They helped Fred here come out of the closet, releasing his pent up anger, and forestalling what we all assumed to be an inevitable killing spree."  And Larry's kids, Tori (Shelby Adamowsky) and Eric (Cole Morgen).  Eric is not what I would call an athlete; he is much more a song and dance man, and can tap-dance like a mad fool.  Larry is concerned about his possible orientation, but that doesn't seem to diminish his love.  Chuck is not concerned at all; he just uses it as leverage for his unceasing attacks against Larry's balls.

But more than that, this movie shows two men dealing with homophobia.  They aren't gay, but they get a good taste of what it is like as their friends suddenly treat them very differently.  And Chuck and Larry rise above the situation.  More than that, it shows real affection between the men that has nothing to do with desire.  An epic bromance, as it were.

This movie was nominated for almost every Razzie out there.  It's humor is juvenile, and aimed firmly at frat boys and other over-grown adolescents.  And I got news for you; that is a good thing.  Because the message here is summed up by Captain Tucker, "And most importantly, they showed us that no matter whom we choose to love, be they heterosexual, homosexual, asexual, bisexual, trisexual, quadrisexual, pansexual, transexual, omnisexual or that thing where the chick ties the belt around your neck and tinkles on a balloon, it has absolutely nothing to do with who we are as people."  And it is aimed squarely at the target audience that needs the message the most.  So yeah, Adam Sandler, you did a good thing.  In all the humor and ball busting gags, this movie does something great.  It humanizes gays, and shows the real price of homophobia in a way that is not threatening.

Gay Movies:

La Mission***Burnt Money***8: The Mormon Propo$ition***In The Flesh***The Sensei***The 24th Day***Wrangler: Anatomy of an Icon***ZMD: Zombies of Mass Destruction***East Side Story***Dorian Blues***Creatures From the Pink Lagoon***Satyricon***Ice Men***Richard O'Briens Rocky Horror Tribute Show***Prom Queen***The Kids are All Right***Between Love and Goodbye***The Mudge Boy***That Man: Peter Berlin***A Single Man***Almost Normal***Outing Riley***Outrage!***Law of Desire***Love is the Devil***Cowboy Junction***Horror in the Wind***Bedrooms and Hallways***Cut Sleeve Boys***Big Eden***For A Lost Soldier***Midnight Cowboy***Redwoods***The Massuer***Boy Culture***Breakfast With Scot***The Fluffer***Flesh***Little Ashes***L.I.E. ***Dorian Gray***9 Dead Gay Guys***Shank***I Now Pronounce You Chuck and Larry***Beautiful Boxer***Bangkok Love Story***Schoolboy Crush***Shelter***Back Soon***Dog Tags***Theft***The Mulligans***The Velvet Goldmine***Swashbuckler***Smoke Signals
***C'Thulhu***Milk***The Picture of Dorian Gray***Brideshead Revisited***Notes on a Scandal***RocknRolla***Mamma Mia!
***Priscillia: Queen of the Desert***The History Boys***Brokeback Mountain***The Broken Hearts Club*** Yaji and Kita: Midnight Pilgrims ***Surge of Power ***In & Out ***Mambo Italiano ***Touch of Pink ***To Wong Foo, Thanks For Everything, Julie Newmar ***Wolves of Kromer ***Rocky Horror Picture Show ***Taboo ***Deathtrap 


Gay Themed Series:

Spartacus: Blood and Sand
Dante's Cove
Hex
Carnivale Season One
Carnivale Season Two
Rome Season One
Rome Season Two
True Blood
True Blood: Season Two
The Book of Daniel: The Complete Series
Torchwood: Children of Earth
Torchwood: Season One


Gay Animation:

Pirate's Booty***Sensitive Pornograph***Loveless: The Complete Series***Loveless: Hope on the Run***Loveless: Soul of Chains***Loveless: Lost and Found***Embracing Love: A Cicada in Winter***Embracing Love: Cherished Spring ***Stonewall & Riot***Drawn Together Movie: The Movie***Drawn Together: Season 2***Drawn Together: Season 3

Recommended: Yes

Viewing Format: DVD
Video Occasion: Fit for Friday Evening
Suitability For Children: Suitable for Children Age 13 and Older