Reviewed
by Lamar Kukuk
9/1/07
The
movies and history have walked hand-in-hand since the medium's creation.
Films witness, shape, and reflect the times from which they come, allowing
us to get a sense of what it was like to live in an age when social attitudes
we now take for granted were considered shocking or subversive. Just
as women and racial minorities have faced long, uphill struggles to have
their complexities and value recognized both in society and on film, the
gay community now finds itself trying to convince their heterosexual neighbors
that they have more in common than their prejudices allow them to believe.
Hopefully there will soon come a time when I Now Pronounce You Chuck
& Larry is seen as much ado about nothing. But for now it's
a silly, fun and even kinda thoughtful flick that asks fans of lowbrow
comedy not only to laugh at their squeamishness about gay marriage, but
to feel what it would be like to walk in the “other side”'s shoes.
Chuck
Levine (Adam Sandler) and Larry Valentine (Kevin James) are best friends
who work together as firefighters. While Chuck is an insanely promiscuous
ladies' man, Larry continues to mourn the death of his wife a few years
ago. But mourning has become avoidance, and he discovers he's allowed
a deadline to change the beneficiary on his insurance to pass, leaving
no one to inherit and take care of Larry's daughter Tori (Shelby Adamowsky)
and son Eric (Cole Morgen). He's told that the only way to make the
change now is to remarry. Unfortunately for Chuck, Larry recently
saved his life on the job and has promised his friend “anything” he asks.
What Larry asks is for him to file paperwork declaring them “domestic partners”
to allow him to make Chuck the beneficiary and ensure that his kids are
cared for in the event that something happens to him on the job.
It all sounds so easy, so Chuck agrees. Alas, soon enough, city investigators
led by the unctuous Clinton Fitzer (Steve Buscemi) descend on Larry's home
to prove that they're not a real gay couple. For help, they turn
to attorney Alex McDonough (Jessica Biel), whose own brother (Nick Swardson)
is gay. Chuck falls hard for her right away, only making it harder
to keep up the charade. But keep it up he does, traveling to Canada
to marry Larry, being “just friends” with Alex and taking over as Mommy
to Tori and Eric, whose preference for theater and show tunes over baseball
has Larry worried. As the investigation draws attention, the guys
soon get the cold shoulder from their fellow firefighters, learning first
hand what the homophobia they once had no problem joining in on is all
about.
The
worldview of I Now Pronounce You Chuck & Larry (let's do what
Universal Studios does in its' ads and call it Chuck & Larry
from now on) isn't exactly politically correct. Every woman Chuck
meets before Alex is a flaming bimbo, fat jokes at Larry's expense abound,
and the Asian Minister (an uncredited Rob Schneider) who marries the leads
is a vaudevillian racial caricature. But there's also a lot of humanity
in the script co-written by Oscar winners Alexander Payne & Jim Taylor.
I really liked the way the movie makes its' points about homosexual relationships
by being about all kinds of relationships, particularly the ways friendship
and romance are linked. By the time the two guys have been separated
at a climactic hearing to answer questions about each other, there's no
doubt that they are in love in a way, just without the sex. And while
Chuck is initially only interested in Alex's body, his circumstances force
him to do something he's probably never done before: treat a woman
like a friend. I also liked what the movie does with Larry's son
Eric. It's very possible that at some point, this kid's going to
realize he's gay, and even if he's not, he'll be dealing with sideways
looks his whole life because he's not “masculine enough” for people just
like his father. But walking a mile in those gay shoes gives Larry
and Chuck a new appreciation of what the singing, dancing kid has to offer.
Alas,
the screenplay's story mechanics are not as solid as its' thematic ones,
and as that hearing comes to a head, it finds itself collapsing into the
same flaming mass of Big Speeches, Cheering Crowds, and Unrealistic Proclamations
that most major studio comedies do. It's such a shame, because the
plot has tied a Gordian Knot that I really wanted to see it solve.
It would be wrong, given what they've learned, for Chuck and Larry to keep
living a lie, but how can they reveal the truth while saving face with
Alex, dodging prosecution and saving Larry's benefits? I can't think
of a good answer, and neither can the movie.
But
at the end of the day, audiences aren't going to see Chuck & Larry
to be lectured on gay rights or friendship or to see precision screenwriting.
They're there to laugh, and the movie IS very funny. It effectively
plays with both the traditional problems created when two best friends
move in with each other and the fish out of water awkwardness of two straight
guys pretending to be gay. Like any movie descended from the Saturday
Night Live school of comedy, it's also got its' share of funny non-sequiturs,
the best of which is the Crazy Homeless Man (Blake Clark) who serves as
the witness for Chuck & Larry's wedding. He launches into a hilarious
rant about various conspiracies including the fact that “Liz Taylor is
Bigfoot!” and attacks the wedding cake certain that the CIA has bugged
it. There's a guy who could use his own movie!
Kevin
James might have a future at this whole movie thing: he convincingly
sells his grief over his wife, love for his kids and friendship with Chuck,
and his comic timing is solid. Sandler keeps improving as an actor,
although he's not 100% there yet. He's solid in his scenes with James
and Biel, but couldn't quite convince me that he could talk half the city
into sleeping with him the way Chuck seems to have in the early going (an
opening scene where he tries to persuade one woman he didn't realize that
her twin sister wasn't her when they had sex begs the question if he's
even following the line of logic that's coming out of his mouth).
I'm a big Jessica Biel fan, and she's just about as good as an Adam Sandler
comedy love interest could possibly be: smart, relentlessly friendly
and good-hearted, and crackling with spontaneity. I never felt like
Alex was doing anything because the script told her to, and that's about
the best thing you can say about somebody in a movie like this. Buscemi
is, as ever, an amusing cad, and Ving Rhames is funny as a fellow firefighter
whose psychotic exterior hides a secret about his own sexuality.
Longtime
Sandler collaborator Dennis Dugan pretty much hits 'em where they're pitched,
presiding over an uneven movie that is funny and poignant at its' best
and messy and uncomfortable at its' worst. That includes allowing
Schneider to do whatever the hell he's doing as the Minister, which alone
should cost him some points. Chuck & Larry is no masterpiece,
but it's surprisingly articulate in speaking a message of tolerance and
understanding to an audience that probably doesn't hear it that often while
still managing to make them laugh. It won't change the world, but
it's a step in the right direction. |
