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Avg. Critic Score: 37 out of 100 Generally unfavorable reviews Metascore® based on all critic reviews
Information for Parents:
15 Iffy for 15+
Read Common Sense Media review

Critic scores range from 0 to 100, with higher scores indicating more favorable reviews.

  • 60
    Washington Post | Desson Thomson

    Essentially, Chuck & Larry is an oafish chance for audiences to laugh at gay-bashing jokes and then feel morally redeemed for doing so -- courtesy of an obligatory wrap-up scene that reminds us that homosexuals are humans, too. Read full review

  • 60
    The Hollywood Reporter | Kirk Honeycutt

    The curious thing here is that Alexander Payne and Jim Taylor rewrote this long-in-development screenplay. Yet the authors of such smart comedies as "Sideways," "About Schmidt" and "Citizen Ruth" can't move the film away from the world of easy laughs and sitcom jokes into a realm where sexual prejudices and presumptions get examined in a whimsical yet insightful manner. Read full review

  • 60
    Variety | Brian Lowry

    The kind of buddy comedy Jack Lemmon and Walter Matthau might have starred in 40 years ago, when the material would have felt less dated, if no less silly. Read full review

  • 50
    San Francisco Chronicle | Peter Hartlaub

    Despite the fact that the movie covers some new cinematic territory, much of the humor feels recycled, mostly from the "Seinfeld" episodes "The Boyfriend" (the one where Jerry has a man crush on Keith Hernandez) and "The Outing." Read full review

  • 50
    The New York Times | Manohla Dargis

    Sporadically funny, casually sexist, blithely racist and about as visually sophisticated as a parking-garage surveillance video. Read full review

  • 42
    Entertainment Weekly | Lisa Schwarzbaum

    Myself, I felt victimized by the stereotype shtick of reliably grating Rob Schneider as a Canadian-Japanese wedding-chapel minister from SNL castoff hell. But maybe that's just because this movie encourages sensitivity by hitting everyone over the head with its humor hammer. Read full review

  • 40
    Los Angeles Times | Kevin Crust

    Fails to deliver on its main promise of big laughs, which is the film's truly unforgivable sin. Read full review

  • 38
    USA Today | Claudia Puig

    A movie that gives marriage, homosexuality, friendship, firefighters, children and nearly everything else a bad name. Read full review

  • 25
    Rolling Stone | Peter Travers

    No comedy this year can beat this dud for mealy-mouthed hypocrisy. Read full review

  • 10
    Wall Street Journal |

    In under two hours, the synthetic, insufferable I Now Pronounce You Chuck and Larry manages to insult gays, straights, men, women, children, African-Americans, Asians, pastors, mailmen, insurance adjusters, firemen, doctors -- and fans of show music. That's championship stuff. Read full review

View more reviews for I Now Pronounce You Chuck and Larry on Metacritic

Information for Parents
Common Sense Media says Iffy for 15+ Typical Sandler comedy overflows with stereotypes.
What Parents Need to Know Parents need to know that this movie was originally rated R and had to be resubmitted to earn its PG-13 rating. As with many Sandler movies, the jokes make fun of people -- in this case, mostly homosexuals and the obese. It's 90 percent lowbrow shenanigans and 10 percent heart, with an oversimplified message that discrimination is bad and tolerance is good. (Also good: best friends who would do anything for each other.) Expect raunchy setups (Sandler plays a womanizing, "hot" fireman who can apparently bed five women at once), tired stereotypes (the firefighters look horrified when they accidentally drop the soap in a butt-baring shower scene), and strong language ("s--t," "dick," etc.). Even if tweens and younger teens are Sandler fans, they may be too young to separate the juvenile jokes from the underlying do-good message.
  • Families can talk about the issues raised by the film -- particularly discrimination. Why do Chuck and Larry's firefighter friends start treating them differently once they're outed as a couple? What do Chuck and Larry learn about homophobia? Do the stereotypes in the movie (about gay people, overweight people, and Asians) detract from its intended message? Is it OK to use hate words in comedies? What would you have done differently if you were making this movie?
The good stuff
  • message true0 Positive messages: Many, many gay and fat jokes. Before Chuck realizes firsthand how homosexuals are discriminated against, he's the first to say hateful words about homosexuality; later he changes his tune -- as do the rest of the firefighters. But there's no redeeming the movie's painful Asian stereotypes, which take the form of a Canadian wedding chapel owner (it's obviously Rob Schneider dressed as an East Asian man).
What to watch for
  • violence false0 Violence: Chuck punches a protesting minister who calls him a "faggot."
  • sex false3 Sex: Chuck is known as a womanizer; he has five lingerie-clad girlfriends spending the night. He makes twin sisters kiss each other (off screen -- viewers see the firefighters' reactions). A woman discusses how "freaky" she can get in bed. Firefighters' bare buttocks are visible in a fairly long shower scene. Many jokes about all the "hot gay sex" Chuck and Larry are having while they're pretending to be a couple. Chuck receives pornographic material (a blow-up doll, brown paper packages marked "explicit," Trojan XL condoms case, etc.) in the mail. A calendar shows hetero men in homosexual poses.
  • language false3 Language: Homosexual hate words like "faggot" and "fag" are used for the first half of the movie; later, a character explains why it's insensitive to use those words. Other curse words include "ass," "a--hole," "s--t," "bitch," "whore," "dick," "fatboy," etc.
  • consumerism false1 Consumerism: Trojan condoms
  • drugsalcoholtobacco false3 Drinking, drugs and smoking: Chuck shows an obviously stoned store employee the marijuana joint that started a fire; Chuck and another character drink wine; partygoers drink.
An independent nonprofit dedicated to providing families the information they need to help kids thrive in a world of media and technology. © Common Sense Media Inc. 2010. All rights reserved.

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Dave White

3.0

Dave White Profile See Dave White's Profile

… a knuckleheaded appeal that still gets it over. Read full review See Dave White's on MOVIENAME on Movies.com

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