| Product: |
Good Luck Chuck (DVD) |
| Date: |
18/07/08 (86 review reads) |
| Rating: |
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Advantages: Funny, passes quickly, never boring
Disadvantages: May offend some people, same old formula doesn't stand out from the rest
Charlie Logan is somewhat of a good luck charm for women, if they sleep with him, the next guy they go out with will be the love of their life and end up marrying him. When Charlie meets Cam, he needs to break the curse that has been put on him, as he fears she will end up falling for the guy after him instead of staying with him.
Charlie Logan is played by Dane Cook (Employee of the Month), the guy who looks a bit like Ryan Reynolds and Cam is played by Jessica Alba (Awake). Alongside these two are Charlie's best friend played by Dan Fogler (School For Scoundrels) and Cam's brother played by Lonny Ross (first major role). All play their parts really well and make a perfect comedy team. Jessica Alba does just as well in a comedy role as in her more serious movies and her brother and Charlie's best friend are both hilarious. Dane Cook also is great but perhaps the weakest out of the four.
We first saw this in the cinema and I enjoyed it but it wasn't an instant favourite for me. My boyfriend however rated it up there with some of the great comedies we have seen this year such as The Heartbreak Kid and Forgetting Sarah Marshall, but that may have more to do with the leading lady than the film itself(!) I really liked it first time around but didn't think it was anywhere near as good as those.
When getting some DVDs to watch from the "video shop" (despite the fact it has no videos in it) Good Luck Chuck was one of the three we chose. My boyfriend was eager to watch it again. Did I mention it has Jessica Alba in it?
Watching it for a second time I really enjoyed it again. People say "rom-com" as if it's an insult, which is just plain stupid as enjoying something that makes you laugh is hardly something to be ashamed of. The thing is however with rom-coms, and perhaps why they get slated, is because they all essentially have the same story. Boy meets girl, boy and girl face some troubles in their relationship, boy and girl make up and live happily ever after, cue end credits before we ever get to see the next row in their relationship. Okay, so they are very formulaic, but you know this going into them, the thing is you're not there for the plot, you're there for the laughs.
Such is the case with Good Luck Chuck, when reading the synopsis do you immediately think, "wow this sounds like a really interesting in depth concept" or do you think "this could be funny"? Exactly, they're not about the plot, they're about the comedy.
The thing is, in order to stand out from the eight hundred billion other rom-coms there needs to be something special about it. With Just Friends and Forgetting Sarah Marshall it's that they are unforgettably hilarious. With some others it's the heart in them.
For me Good Luck Chuck isn't up there as one of the best as it just doesn't have that special something to make it stand out, but it is thoroughly enjoyable and funny throughout. It's a great, funny, entertaining watch.
The comedy in it is at times fairly slapstick and physical so if this isn't your thing then you aren't likely to like it, but Jessica Alba does a perfect job of portraying clumsy Cam. It's not all slapstick though, there's plenty of witty dialogue there too. Most of which is quite sexist, derogatory and politically incorrect but absolutely hilarious. Depending how easily offended you are you may not like it but if you take things a little more light hearted then it really is hilarious.
Again, this film may not be for everyone as not only could the dialogue offend some but the excessive and on the unrated DVD huge almost "soft porn" montage may offend some. For me it wasn't a problem but it's perhaps something you wouldn't want to watch with your nan in the room.
The actual plot of the film is of course a little silly but fun nonetheless and serves the comedy well, which is really the whole point of the plots of rom-coms; to make way for as many funny gags as possible.
I really liked it and enjoyed it throughout and it had so many funny moments throughout it, even on second watch I still found it funny and perhaps noticed even more small funny dialogue parts than I had the first time. It's not one of the best rom-coms out there, it is one of many "good" rom-coms and no doubt will be largely forgettable for most people but should be largely enjoyable for anyone who isn't likely to get offended by gags largely based around sex and women, and who isn't too mature for a bit of slapstick.
This movie was fun, moved along well so that by the time it was over it felt like I'd been watching it no time at all, and had many laugh out loud moments. It's not up there on my favourite list but I do really like it. For the girls it's got the romance element and lots of laughs, for the guys its got some very "blokey"-y humour, lots of naked girls, and of course Jessica Alba - everyone's happy! Just don't watch it with any "real" grown ups, this is for us big kids!
Summary: "What is sex without love?"... "SEX! It's still SEX!!"
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