Going to an Adam Sandler movie is pretty much hit or miss. You’ll either get big comedy fun like 50 First Dates and Happy Gilmore… or formulaic idiocy like The Waterboy. With his latest film, I Now Pronounce You Chuck & Larry you end up somewhere in-between. There are definitely funny moments, but a majority of the film struggles to find memorable material to fill the gaps between laughs.
Firefighter Larry Valentine (Kevin James) is so distraught after his wife’s death that he can’t even bring himself to open mail with her name on it. Unfortunately, this causes him to miss the window for transferring his life insurance benefits to his kids. Three years later after a near-death experience in the line of duty, Larry is so desperate to make sure his children are taken care of, that he concocts a sham marriage with the only person he can trust… best friend and fellow firefighter Chuck Levine (Adam Sandler). In an attempt to pile on the funny, Chuck happens to be a notorious womanizer and self-proclaimed “man-whore.”
This marriage of convenience quickly starts spinning out of control as a fraud investigator (Steve Buscemi) makes it his mission in life to expose the truth. Alas, since the truth can land them in prison, Chuck & Larry have no choice but to live the lie they’ve created. This leads to a parade of every gay stereotype you can imagine, as our heroes face bias and intolerance now that their secret is out.
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