For weeks I’ve been afflicted by commercials and previews for I Now Pronounce You Chuck & Larry.
The move is supposed to be a comedy about two straight New York firefighters who, through some contrived circumstances, are forced to register as domestic partners, and then must somehow prove to investigators that they are not merely domestic partners but, oh my gosh, gay as well.
From what I can see from the incessant ads that assault me, there are, no shit Sherlock, some problems with the basic premise that drives the movie. First off, there’s the idea that for some pension requirement that would require them to register to save a pension. Second is the idea that to register as domestic partners, you actually have to be gay. Third, there is the idea that someone would check up on whether or not you were gay, and you would have to prove your homosexuality to them.
But the far-fetched premise seems the least of the movie’s offenses. It promises a level of ham-handed over-acting straight characters acting in a farcically gay manner not seen since the heyday of Three’s Company. It will, no doubt, demonstrate that despite the significant progress in gay rights in the past three decades, Hollywood’s willingness to portray gays as cheap stereotypes hasn’t changed much since the late '70s.
But more significantly, the movie’s premise is that gay rights are not something necessary to give dignity and equality to deserving people, but rather they are a cheap scheme that can be exploited by the undeserving to put something over on the authorities.
Its depressing social significance aside, it seems like the movie will be simply bad and unfunny.
I suppose there is some possibility that there will be some moment of actual humor or heartwarmingness that is absent from the commercials, but I severely doubt it.
Does anyone think this will be anything better than worthless, revolting dreck? Is there anyone here who has any intention of seeing this thing?
