I Now Pronounce You

I Now Pronounce You Chuck & Larry (Dennis Dugan, 2007) - C

Still shitty, but not the offensive stereotype-giggle-fest I feared -- or rather it is, but kind of in a good way. Wha? Well, it occurred to me that it might better to turn this stuff into fodder for a raunchy, unabashedly mainstream Adam Sandler comedy than to ceaselessly treat it with PC kid gloves. And Chuck & Larry is doing it ("it" being rampant comic displays of homophobia and soap-dropping gags) out of love, if you get me -- at various points I questioned the filmmakers' IQ and choice of profession, but never their good intentions. So in this context, the PG-13 puerility ("penis department" instead of "pension department") and weird gay panic non sequiturs (Adam Sandler's faux-shocked response to the notion that people out there will fake homosexual relationships to get government benefits: "It makes me so sad... and gay... to hear about people like that") seem appropriate and almost charming. What's not remotely charming is the film's two-hour length, the ridiculous "I am Spartacus" climax, the cloying, dishonest denoument, the neverending Rob Schneider appearances, and general confusion about what constitutes comedy (i.e. Allen Covert leaping about dressed as a gay butterfly = not comedy; please make a note of it). One of these days someone will have the guts to cut one of these movies to a tight, funny 85 minutes and we might have something.