I watched a film at the weekend that I hadn’t seen for ages!
I Now Pronounce You Chuck & Larry (2007)
I’ve seen this movie a few times now but I don’t remember ever enjoying it quite as much as I did the other night.
If you haven’t seen it, it stars Adam Sandler (Happy Gilmore), Kevin James (Paul Blart: Mall Cop), Jessica Biel (Blade: Trinity), Dan Aykroyd (Ghostbusters), Steve Buscemi (Fargo) and Ving Rhames (Pulp Fiction) among others.
This is what it’s about according to the internet:
“Chuck Levine (Sandler) and Larry Valentine (James) are firefighters and life-long best friends. When Larry, a widower, learns he cannot name his children as beneficiaries on his life insurance policy, he needs a big favour from Chuck: Sign on as Larry's domestic partner. The pals unexpectedly become front-page news and must carry the masquerade to extremes when an overzealous bureaucrat (Buscemi) becomes suspicious of their true relationship.”
I know Adam Sandler isn’t everyone’s cup of tea but he’s made some great comedies over the years.
Personally I find him hilarious! His style of comedy hits my funny bone 95% of the time and I think it’s a shame that some people miss out on his better films because they still judge him on one they didn’t like where he did a silly voice.
This is one of the good ones.
It has a decent and surprisingly heartwarming story, a good cast, and the pairing with Kevin James works really well thanks to his and Adam Sandler’s genuine chemistry.
As if that wasn’t enough, it stars a scene stealing Ving Rhames in a role unlike any you’ve seen him play before!
Watching it this time round I was really aware of how un-PC it is. It’s mad how much things have changed over the last few years because I don’t remember thinking too much about it the last time I watched it. It’s full of homophobic slurs and stereotypes, cultural appropriation and female objectification - and do you know what? It’s friggin’ hilarious!
In actual fact I found it a real breath of fresh air! Not that I condone any of those things but I’m so tired of this suffocating “you can’t say this, you can’t say that, I’m offended by everything” era we’re currently living in that it actually felt good to laugh at stuff I’m “not supposed to” laugh at.
Now I know how that sounds and hopefully you won’t think I’m homophobic, sexist, racist or whatever-ist because I’m not. I just think that this type of humour has become even funnier over recent years because it seems more shocking now than ever before.
Fortunately what the film does really well is make a joke of the types of people who use those kinds of slurs and hold those stereotypes. What starts off as a potentially offensive movie (to some) redeems itself by recognising how hurtful all of those slurs and stereotypes can be. It puts those characters in the firing line where they get to see what it’s actually like to be on the receiving end of various types of abuse. And despite how it all starts off, I think by the end it succeeds in sending a strong and important message that justifies the humour.
It also stars the stunningly gorgeous Jessica Biel who, at various points in the film can be seen rain soaked in her underwear as well as wearing a black PVC catsuit - so if the heartwarming stuff doesn’t get you, I’m sure that will! (Apologies for the female objectification).
This is definitely one to check out if you like a decent comedy that’s centred around friendship, family values and the importance of treating others the way you’d want to be treated (even if you don’t like Adam Sandler).
It’s currently streaming on Netflix.
Seen it? Let me know below.