I Now Pronounce You Chuck and Larry parents guide

I Now Pronounce You Chuck and Larry Parent Guide

Overall D+

In order to sidestep some red tape so Larry Valentine (Kevin James) can name his two children as the beneficiaries of his insurance policy, the widower ask his fireman colleague Chuck Levine (Adam Sandler) to engage in a little white lie. But when the fib about their gay marriage is called into question, the two straight men struggle to maintain appearances -- and the sexy lawyer (Jessica Biel), attempting to plead their cause, only makes matters worse.

Release date July 19, 2007

Violence B-
Sexual Content D+
Profanity C-
Substance Use C

Why is I Now Pronounce You Chuck and Larry rated PG-13? The MPAA rated I Now Pronounce You Chuck and Larry PG-13 for crude sexual content throughout, nudity, language and drug references. (Re-rated; originally rated R).

Run Time: 115 minutes

Parent Movie Review

Meet Larry Valentine (Kevin James), a New York City firefighter who is in the depths of despair mourning the death of his wife. He has two little kids, and has hired an incompetent maid (I assume she’s all that was available) to help with the housework and childcare. Things only get more difficult when he discovers he hasn’t changed the beneficiary on his life insurance, and (in what is possibly the most improbable movie set-up this year) is told he has missed the deadline to complete the paperwork.

Meet Chuck Levine (Adam Sandler, whose company made this movie). He also fights fires, and in his off time feeds a sexual addiction with pornographic magazines, caseloads of adult videos and a bevy of bikini-clad women. (We can only presume Sandler wanted us to know, beyond any doubt, that his character Chuck likes women. I get it.)

After Larry saves Chuck’s life, the kindhearted guy says he will do anything for his best friend. Suddenly Larry has found the answer to his problem: Make Chuck his domestic partner and he can become the beneficiary of Larry’s life insurance plan and guardian of his family. It should work, except insurance companies are always on the lookout for scammers. Suspicious, they send in Mr. Fitzer (Steve Buscemi), a devious little investigator who combs through their trash. When told their garbage isn’t gay enough, the pair know it’s time to up the ante.

A quick trip to Canada to get married and the legal council of Alex (Jessica Biel), a lawyer specializing in gay rights, ought to convince everyone this is the real deal. It’s just unfortunate that Chuck really likes women, and women really like him, too. His rude, crass, and perverted personality seems to make him irresistible to beautiful females who range from bimbos to doctors and… even lawyers.

When Chuck begins fondling Alex’s breasts, we know this gig isn’t going to last much longer… or at least we hope so. But, like every other movie Sandler has made, there has to be a moralistic, schmaltzy ending, and this one delivers with a courtroom finale so ridiculously sweet, you wonder why this wasn’t a musical.

Sandler’s heart may have been in the right place when he set out to make a movie that promotes tolerance toward those in the LGBTQ community(with a little “fat people are nice, too” on the side), and includes lines like, “Gays and lesbians have not been fighting for these rights for forty years to be made a mockery of!” Yet that’s exactly what this movie does with its dozens of offensive gay stereotypes and homophobic characters, which we are expected to forgive in the film’s closing minutes. It also paints obese people as being flatulent fools, Christians as intolerant bigots, and drunken homeless people as amusing jesters. As well, the use of women as disposable sexual objects is highly demeaning and offensive.

All of our content categories are brimming with reasons why you shouldn’t bring the kids to this film. Sexual innuendo is non-stop, a shower room scene features male nudity and another extended scene shows women wearing very scanty underwear. Mild and moderate profanities pepper the script, while characters dish out punches and body tackles to anyone who disagrees with their point of view.

Like many previous movies from Sandler’s Happy Madison Productions, this one was rated R in the US, and then won a PG-13 after an appeal with no edits to the film. Considering the nudity, sexual content, fraudulent activity and scenes of NYC firefighters smoking (something the MPAA ratings administration recently said would play a role in determining a film’s rating), it appears the insurance company isn’t the only organization Chuck and Larry are trying to swindle.

Starring Adam Sandler, Kevin James, Jessica Biel.. Running time: 115 minutes. Theatrical release July 19, 2007. Updated

I Now Pronounce You Chuck and Larry
Rating & Content Info

Why is I Now Pronounce You Chuck and Larry rated PG-13? I Now Pronounce You Chuck and Larry is rated PG-13 by the MPAA for crude sexual content throughout, nudity, language and drug references. (Re-rated; originally rated R).

An unending litany of homosexual and heterosexual innuendos pervades this film. Rear male nudity is seen, along with extended scenes of women in revealing underwear, one of which asks a man to fondle her breasts. Depictions of adult videos, magazines and scenes of scantily dressed women offering sexual favors are also included. Many moderate and mild profanities and rude anatomical terms are used. On several occasions, characters physically punch or tackle others who use derogatory terms toward gay people. New York City firemen are depicted smoking cigars. Little regard for law and order is also portrayed—rules are bent to defraud an insurance company, lies are told to avoid consequences, and a fireman takes the liberty of punishing a pot smoker who accidentally starts a fire by blasting him with a fire extinguisher. Finally, this film includes many stereotypes that may be offensive to gay people, Christians, and those who are sensitive about body image portrayals.

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I Now Pronounce You Chuck and Larry Parents' Guide

Is comedy always an appropriate way to deal with sensitive themes? Do you think the stereotyped portrayals of gay people interfere with the messages promoting tolerance?

Some of the characters resort to punching and tackling when someone says something they disagree with. How is this violence used as a comedic tool? What does this method of resolving conflict teach about tolerance?

Safety note: A fireman sprays a Carbon Dioxide fire extinguisher in a man’s face for comedic purposes. It is very dangerous to shoot any compressed gas at another person—especially their face. Also, the gas in these extinguishers is extremely cold and can cause frostbite.

Home Video

The most recent home video release of I Now Pronounce You Chuck and Larry movie is November 6, 2007. Here are some details…

I Now Pronounce You Chuck and Larry comes out on DVD confettied with bonus extras. Besides audio commentaries by director Dennis Dugan, director/actor Adam Sandler and actor Kevin James, the disc also includes outtakes and deleted scenes (with optional commentary by Dennis Dugan) as well as the featurettes: I Now Pronounce you Husband…and Husband?, Look Who Stopped By, Dugan-The Hands On Director, Laughing Is Contagious, and Stop, Drop and Roll. Audio tracks are available in Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround (English, French and Spanish), with subtitles in English (SDH), French and Spanish.

Related home video titles:

In Connie and Carla, another pair of friends try to pass themselves off as a gay couple in order to hide from gangsters who know they witnessed a murder. Actor Kevin James can be seen as a romantically challenged man in the matchmaking movie Hitch, while Adam Sandler struggles to interpret marriage, commitment and child rearing in the film Spanglish.