Review of I Now Pronounce You Chuck & Larry (2007) by Anthony S — 29 Dec 2011

Adam Sandler has admittedly made some dumb, dopey and offensive comedies over the years. At his worst, he resorts to making the same movie over and over again with similar jokes, characters and themes. But, he has never made a movie that sinks to the depths of "I Now Pronounce You Chuck and Larry", a distasteful, disturbingly unfunny and embarrassingly out-of-date alleged comedy.

Sandler himself plays his most unlikable character to date, a thoughtless womanizer who mocks his best friend's dead wife and seemingly beds every female who crosses his line of sight. That in itself would be offensive enough in this day of AIDS and teen pregnancy, but it gets worse. Much worse.

In what may be the movie's most flagrant example of its contradictory nature, the moment Sandler is supposed to be our hero is when he hits a guy who calls him a "faggot". That might have been a turning point for the better if Sandler himself didn't toss around that same word liberally during the first half of the picture. But of course Sandler and co-star Kevin James have a change of heart while pretending to be gay and I guess we're all supposed to learn something along the way.

By the end, all of the damage done during the movie is wiped away and all is supposedly forgiven. Jessica Biel forgives Sandler. The city of New York forgives Sandler and James. But it will take me a lot longer than a two hour running time to forgive everyone involved with "I Now Pronounce You Chuck and Larry". I thought our society had come a lot farther than this in promoting tolerance and acceptance.