Minute44 - Dan Schonhaar

Wednesday me and Nat went to see I now pronounce you Chuck and Larry at Derby cinema. The plot basically involves two New York Firemen (Adam Sandler and Kevin Kames) entering into a false gay marriage in order to solve a pension crisis. Their marriage comes under scrutany by the state however following a spate of simmilar situations where false couples had used it gain money or tax breaks illegally.

Along with Sandler and James the cast includes Jessica Beil as the couple’s attourney and Dan Akroyd as the cheif of the fire dpeartment where the couple work. The usual Happy Maddison gang make an appearance too. This oviously means Steve Buscemi and Rob Schneider among others.

Although it was almost pants wettingly funny I couldn’t help feeling a tremendous sense of deja vu. It could have been called “Generic Happy Madison film 6″ The humour was the same as in Big Daddy, Mr. Deeds, Happy Gilmore, Anger Management, Click, 50 First Dates, Little Nicky and any other Adam Sandler film you care to name, with the notable exceptions of Spanglish, Reign over me and Punch Drunk Love.

Adam Sandler is his usual funny self and you really get a sense that he lives up to his name as the nicest guy in Hollywood. The style of his humour never really changes from film to film but he remains funny to those who like that sort of thing.

Kevin James stars along side Sandler and is also very funny but again, the originality is what’s lacking. Kevin James is the King of Queens and even in this film where he trades the brown shorts of a courrier for a fireman’s uniform and helmet, the character remains much the same. Clumsy big guy with a big heart that doesn’t always show. It is obviously a character that works well because as well as his own show he has made appearences as Doug Heffernan in Becker, Cosby and Everybody loves Raymond.

The cast formula remains the same as they have clearly gone with the “if it aint broke don’t fix it” school of filmmaking. I get left with the ability to sum the film up in one short sentence. Funny yes, original no. For that I am forced to only award this film 3 stars.

Verdict: