Quand Chuck rencontre Larry

In "I Now Pronounce You Chuck and Larry," Adam Sandler and Kevin James play two New York City fire fighters who pretend to be gay so that Larry's two kids can be raised by Chuck in the event of Larry's untimely death (Larry's wife has been dead for two years and he has not been able to bring himself to date another woman in all that time). The hitch is that to bring this about, the two of them will have to officially register as "domestic partners." Originally, they intend on keeping their "relationship" a secret, but when the government starts sending inspectors around to verify the validity of their claim, Chuck and Larry are left with the choice of admitting to the scam and going to jail or convincing everyone around them that they are indeed an actual couple.

As a "high concept" comedy, "I Now Pronounce You Chuck and Larry" is pretty much a contrived manufacture from the get-go, mixing equal parts humor and sentiment in an attempt to play to the broadest possible audience - which is probably the only way the filmmakers could reasonably have gone with material this dicey. Yet, while the movie traffics in any number of lame stereotypes (gay as well as ethnic), it also has some important things to say about equality and acceptance in an ever changing world. The script achieves about a 50/50 ration in its humor - about half the jokes are zingers while the other half are clunkers - but the movie's heart is definitely in the right place, so much so that you will forgive the filmmakers when the story turns all heavy-handed and preachy towards the end, in what is surely one of the least plausible courtroom scenes in motion picture history. As compensation, the movie actually places its characters in some pretty sticky moral dilemmas at times, the prime one being that, much as we may like and admire Chuck and Larry for all the social barriers they are tearing down, we still hear that little nagging voice in the back of our heads telling us that they are defrauding the public and breaking the law while doing so. Such moral ambiguity is actually a pretty rare commodity for a mainstream American comedy these days.

Sandler and James imbue their roles with a great deal of charm and gusto, and they receive strong support from Dan Aykroyd, Jessica Biel, Ving Rhames and Steve Buscemi.

"I Now Pronounce You Chuck and Larry" certainly isn't up to the level of "Knocked Up" or "Superbad," its summer 2007 comedy contemporaries, but neither is it the cinematic disaster most of the critics have accused it of being. It's an uneven but largely likable romp that makes you feel good about the world when it's over.

Chuck and Larry are buddies and fellow fire-fighters in New York. They are very close and would do anything for one another so, when a problem with Larry's pension arrangements comes up that can be solved by entering into a civil partnership, Chuck agrees to pose as his "husband" in order to solve the admin problem. Sadly a high profile fraud case in another state means that the "couple" are under scrutiny from obsessive investigator Clint Fritzer and must play their roles to the full. Hilarity naturally ensues but can everyone also learn a lesson as well?

It dismays me to hear people praising this film for its "sensitive handling" of the subject of homosexuality and the way it challenges bigoted thinking on the subject – such thoughts can be found in the comments section on this site and they dismay me because sadly to some viewers this film may be the nearest thing to "discussion" on homosexuality that they have had. In this way maybe one could make a case for this film being an effective but blunt tool for the mostly teenage male fan-base of Adam Sandler to be "reached" and "educated" by giving them what they want in terms of crude humour and broad stereotypes but then also leaving them with a message that will teach them the error of their ways. It would certainly be nice to say that but one cannot help feel that this is not the reality and that, rather than using the crude stereotypes as a vehicle to deliver a message to a traditionally homophobic fan-base, the film is actually using the message to facilitate lots of homosexual stereotypes, jokes and clichés.

This is what the film does throughout – it wants to have its cake and then also get to eat it. So, spoiler alert, it turns out that homosexuals are people too. Apparently (according to the film) it is NOT OK to treat them differently and exclude them from things and anyone who does, well, y'know what, ell, turns out those that are do are the real jerks. That is about as sophisticated as the message gets but that is perhaps to be expected and for the target audience maybe that is challenging enough. Unfortunately for the wider audience or casual viewer it will come off as little more than patronising and not make up for the fact that the majority of the film flies in the face of this. What the rest of the film does is draw laughs from the fact that two straight characters have to "be gay" – which of course means all the stereotypical stuff that we all know. So nobody wants to pick up the soap in the shower (because all a gay man needs to be aroused is the sight of someone's ass), disco music is played, finger-snapping is everywhere and so on. Fortunately it is sporadically amusing and provided me with a few chuckles whether I wanted to give them up or not. It is not THAT funny though and the casual viewer will mostly just let the brash, obvious humour wash over them without it doing much.

The cast buy into it well though and do their best to sell it. Sandler is his usual rather annoying self and does his best to prove he cannot act by being the usual "irresistible to women" thing rather than the "creepy man-child" that he would be were his character real. James comes off a lot better I'm not really seen him before although he probably does fit TV better than films but he does have a good comic presence and also does OK with coming over more of a regular guy. Loved Ving Rhames in it – sending up his tough guy image while Buscemi, Aykroyd and a few others are amusing in support. Biel has an amazing body and that is pretty much what she is asked to do – be in underwear and look stunning, both of which she effortlessly does but nothing else comes forward.

This film is not the awful piece of comedy that some critics have said but it is a simple, stereotypical comedy about homosexual clichés that tries to justify it by having a very basic message that most people should have already learnt in the 1990's. While some may praise the film for having this message I find it more concerning that people still see this message as somehow "worthy" rather than "d'uh – of course". Some laughs help it through and Sandler's fans will enjoy it despite the "message" but for the casual viewer it is just another clumsy and crude Adam Sandler film.

LOL Rob Schneider playing a stereotypical asian, everyone using the f-word for gay -- this is one offensive movie -- but damn, if it isn't refreshing seeing something as obscene as this these days.

Everything is so stuck up and cringey and bad but taking itself seriously these days... that a movie like this, that's nothing too special but an average early 2000s comedy felt fresh AF.

It's pretty funny, has some good friendship moments, wholesome moments, offensive moments... I don't know, I kinda liked it. Like I said, it's a breath of fresh air now, eventhough in its day it was probably nothing too shocking.

I sympathize with gay dudes, because I can imagine how difficult it must be to admit you are one in a world where men are expected to adhere to standards that society pretends aren't there anymore but they are. So this movie also raises some good questions for the viewers. It's actually anything but dumb and offensive, it's pretty thought provoking.

This film is basically an average comedy. You can poke a lot of holes in the plot and there is a lot of stupidity. Yet, there are some parts that make you laugh out loud. This is an entertaining film, but your own sense of humor should dictate whether you want to see it or not.

Sandler and James play New York firefighters. The basic premise is that Kevin James' character finds a loophole in the system so that if he marries Sandler, his children will easily get his employee benefits. Without a wife, his children would be held in limbo by the state for a while before they get any benefits. This, of course, is a stretch, but since it is a comedy you just kind of go with it.

So after James saves Sandler's life, Sandler agrees to go through with this. This is where the gay jokes ensue. Add in Ving Rhames who is a gay firefighter who comes out of the closet due to James and Sandler and also add in Jessica Biel as some eye candy who Sandler badly wants to date and you have all the ingredients of this comedy. Rob Schneider is funny playing an Asian minister. This movie is pro-gay I would say, so it shouldn't offend homosexuals, and Schneider is part Asian, so I guess he is supposed to be off the hook for making fun of that ethnic group. Anyway, all the jokes are supposed to be in good fun, but some people might get offended. If you are the type of person who gets offended easily, then you probably should avoid this movie.

Some nice cameos in the film and the soundtrack is largely comprised of known gay artists.

I saw this in the theater with my girlfriend. You would probably be smart to avoid the pricey theater tickets and wait until this comes out on DVD. This is not going to be a classic comedy and is not close to one of Sandler's best. At the same time, I don't think that it is an awful film either. Rating 6 0f 10 stars.

... this movie is firmly lodge.

I laughed out loud on more than one occasion. There are a few amusing cameos (my favorite being Dave Matthews as a flamboyant personal shopper). But I think the overall joke hit to miss ratio is probably something like 1 in 10. Sandler and James are just fine in their roles, but they didn't have much to work with. The story doesn't really work- way too many holes, even for a comedy. I think the movie just loses it's touch by going back and forth between overly general, unflattering depictions of homosexuals and sloppy attempts to make Chuck and Larry folk heroes to the gay community. All if it is done in such a way that none of it is believable. The movie is never quite as funny as it should be, and nowhere near as touching as it's desperately trying to be.