I Now Pronounce You Chuck & Larry DVD

DVD Review by Kam Williams

Headline: Sandler and James Fake Being Gay in Gender-Bending Comedy Coming to DVD

For years, Brooklyn firefighters Larry Valentine (Kevin James) and Chuck Levine (Adam Sandler) have been best friends, at least on the job, even though they lead very different private lives. Away from work, Chuck’s a womanizer while Larry is a grieving widower who’s too worried about the welfare of his kids, Eric (Cole Morgen) and Tori (Shelby Adamowsky), to start thinking about dating again.
Despite their differences, these buddies are absolutely committed to being there for each other, and Chuck proves his loyalty by signing a document saying they’re gay life mates to help Larry get life insurance, never expecting that a nosy inspector (Steve Buscemi) from the city’s Fraud Detection Department might show up periodically to make sure they’re not lying.
With the prospect of prison hanging over their heads, Chuck grudgingly moves in with Larry, rather than risk going to jail. And it doesn’t help that he has to hide the fact that he’s straight from the lawyer (Jessica Biel) he’s falling in love with.
The ensuing awkwardness and embarrassment over having to pretend to be strange bedfellows probably sounds like a zany enough premise to make for a potentially hilarious sitcom. However, I Now Pronounce You Chuck & Larry is so insensitively executed that it deserves to be dismissed as a deliberately meanspirited indulgence in homophobia.
Not only are gays repeatedly referred to by slurs but this relentlessly superficial enterprise seizes on any excuse to resurrect stereotypes linking homosexuality with effeminacy. When not trashing gays, the film goes after Asians with impunity, by making fun of their thick accents and eyeglasses, and by portraying Asian females as empty-headed sex objects.
Adam Sandler and Kevin James ought to be ashamed to be associated with the cinematic equivalent of gay bashing.

Poor (0 stars)
Rated PG-13 for nudity, profanity, homophobic slurs, sexuality, drug use and violence.
Running time: 116 minutes
Studio: Universal Studios Home Entertainment
DVD Extras: Deleted scenes with optional director’s commentary, alternate takes, outtakes, feature audio commentary with the director and co-stars Adam Sandler and Kevin James, plus five featurettes.