I Now Pronounce You Chuck & Larry (2007)

Two straight, single Brooklyn firefighters pretend to be a gay couple in order to receive domestic partner benefits.

Director:

Dennis Dugan

Writers:

Barry Fanaro (screenplay), Alexander Payne (screenplay),

Stars:

Adam Sandler, Kevin James, Jessica Biel

14 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Adam Sandler	...	Chuck Levine
Kevin James	...	Larry Valentine
Jessica Biel	...	Alex McDonough
Dan Aykroyd	...	Captain Tucker
Ving Rhames	...	Fred G. Duncan
Steve Buscemi	...	Clint Fitzer
Nicholas Turturro	...	Renaldo Pinera
Allen Covert	...	Steve
Rachel Dratch	...	Benefits Supervisor Sara Powers
Richard Chamberlain	...	Councilman Banks
Nick Swardson	...	Kevin McDonough
Blake Clark	...	Crazy Homeless Man
Mary Pat Gleason	...	Teresa
Matt Winston	...	Glen Aldrich
Lance Bass	...	Band Leader

Storyline

Chuck Levine and Larry Valentine are friends and Brooklyn firefighting partners. Widower Larry, who still mourns the death of his wife Paula, is having problems changing the beneficiary on his insurance policy from Paula's name to his children's. He is worried about his children's future if he were to be killed in the line of duty, and is contemplating quitting his job for something less risky, but he also does not want to forfeit his firefighter's pension as he also see it as a safety net for his children. Larry saves Chuck's life on one of their calls. So when Chuck tells Larry that he owes him one, Larry takes him up on his offer. Larry's favor: despite both being heterosexual, that they enter into a domestic partnership, in name and paper only, to provide that much needed protection for Larry's children. Chronic womanizer Chuck reluctantly but eventually agrees. The one person who knows for a certainty that they are both straight is their boss, Captain Phineas J. Tucker. Their ...

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Plot Keywords:

children | firefighter | fraud | gay | insurance | 

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Taglines:

How far would you go for a friend?

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Genres:

Comedy | Romance

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated PG-13 for crude sexual content throughout, nudity, language and drug references

Details

Official Sites:

Paramount [fr] Universal [us]

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

20 July 2007 (USA)

Also Known As:

Yo los declaro marido y... Larry

Filming Locations:

Brooklyn, New York City, New York, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$85,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend:

£1,090,831 (UK) (21 September 2007)

Gross:

£3,752,731 (UK) (12 October 2007)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Universal Pictures, Relativity Media, Happy Madison Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

115 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital SDDS DTS

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Steve Buscemi was actually a New York City Firefighter before he became an actor.

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Goofs

In the rooftop scene with the guy stuck in the chimney, a large cable hanging from a telephone can be seen directly in front of the Empire State Building. It disappears when the building is seen between the his legs. The director had it digitally removed from the shot, but didn't want to pay to have it removed from the other ones.

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Quotes

Asian Minister: Now place the ring on his hand. A ring is like a circle, it goes on forever. It's not like a triangle, triangle have corners. It's like a circle.

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Connections

Featured in HBO First Look: I Now Pronounce You Chuck and Larry (2007)

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Soundtracks

"Beautiful Life"
Written by Jonas Berggren, John Ballard
Performed by Ace of Base
Courtesy of Playground Music and
Courtesy of Arista Records, Inc.
By Arrangement with Sony BMG Music Entertainment

User Reviews

An Average Comedy

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.