Adam Sandler Fizzles in New Comedy

I Now Pronounce You Chuck and Larry is a Domestic Disaster

Jul 18, 2007

Former "King of Queens" star Kevin James plays a Brooklyn firefighter who fakes a marriage with his best friend in order to restore his health benefits.

According to Hollywood mathematics, two likeable comedians plus a couple of cute kids divided by a hot babe should equal a box office bonanza, but with the exception of Jessica Biel’s fine form, the figures don’t quite add up in “I Now Pronounce You Chuck and Larry,” a new comedy that’s definitely light in the loafers and even lighter on comedy.

In this tedious two-hour joke about the gay lifestyle, Kevin James plays Larry Valentine, a Brooklyn firefighter who’s raising Eric (Cole Morgan) and Tori (Shelby Adamowsky) on his own after the untimely death of his wife.

Larry, unfortunately, neglected to file the proper “life change” paperwork with the city of Brooklyn following his wife’s death and the bureaucrats at City Hall are denying him health benefits and life insurance. According to a helpful city employee (Rachel Dratch), the easiest and quickest way to restore his benefits is to get remarried.

Since he doesn’t know any nice women that he can really trust, Larry turns to his best buddy Chuck Levine (Adam Sandler), a fellow firefighter who owes Larry a really big favor. After much begging and pleading, Chuck agrees to become Larry’s domestic partner.

The city has seen plenty of insurance scams like this one, however, and an inspector shows up at Larry’s house to make sure that their relationship is legitimate. Afraid that they might go to jail for fraud, Larry seeks legal counsel from Alex McDonough (Biel), a very attractive lady lawyer.

Alex recommends that in order to get the city off their backs and create a paper trail for the inspectors to follow, Larry and Chuck should drive up to Canada and get legally married. Chuck, being a dedicated ladies’ man, is horrified at the thought of marrying a guy, but he keeps his promise to his buddy.

Their paper marriage isn’t enough to satisfy Clinton Fitzer (Steve Buscemi), a hard-nosed inspector whose life mission is to expose insurance cheats like Larry. He digs through Larry’s garbage and tries to prove that the two firefighters aren’t really in love.

For Chuck, masquerading as a homosexual actually helps him get closer to the beautiful Alex. She brings out his sensitive and warm side, which ironically makes him the perfect "girlfriend" for her. He has strong feelings for her, but because of his promise to Larry, he can't act on them.

Between the numerous potshots at the gay lifestyle, “I Now Pronounce You Chuck and Larry” does contain a few laugh-out-loud moments, most of them involving Ving Rhames, who plays a tough-as-nails firefighter that works with Chuck and Larry.

Adam Sandler’s onscreen relationship with Jessica Biel also is an enjoyable part of the movie. Their chemistry here is so good that they really should think about teaming up for a better written and executed romantic comedy.

Uneven, offensive and occasionally funny, “Chuck and Larry” really need to think about divorce.

“I Now Pronounce You Chuck and Larry” is rated “PG-13” for crude sexual content throughout, nudity, language and drug references. Originally rated “R”, it was reedited to earn the PG-13 rating.

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