Adam Sandler Comedy is the last place progressives seek “allies”.
“Saturday Night Live”’s Aluminum focuses on raw humor, drawing his “SNL” grads along with him. Sandler’s comedies don’t carry much, beyond the need for male association and humour at the middle school level.
Think “Billy Madison,” “The Waterboy” and “Happy Gilmore.”
That’s why “I Now Declare You Chuck & Larry” has irked us culturally.
Sandler and Kevin James play two firefighters who marry so that James’ character can get insurance for his kids.
These aren’t urban hipsters saluting the LGBTQ flag every morning. They are rough and intimidating guys who will be apprehensive about anything that approaches the gay lifestyle.
That changes when they’re forced to convince the world and their fetch lawyer (Jessica Biel) they’re the real one or go to jail for their scam.
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“Chuck & Larry” carries all the gay stereotypes you would expect. Small voice samples. Feminine outfit. Swishy farce. For that reason alone, plus the repeated use of “F-word” for gay men, the film wouldn’t be able to survive today’s sober censors.
Team Sandler didn’t even try.
However, they did in the mid-2000s, and the movie resonated a sweet 120 million dollars at the US box office.
The film remains a perfect example of why comedy needs rough edges. In the case of “Chuck & Larry,” those angles give way to a frenetic progressive story that is likely to soften the hearts of some hardcore audiences.
Chuck and Larry emerged as gay acceptance activists, and that came from a natural and mischievous evolution. It’s no surprise that the script’s origins involve Alexander Payne, one of Hollywood’s more lucid artists (assuming you ignore his woes”Decrease size“).
There’s a lot of Sandler mess in the movie, no doubt, but the story gets richer as it goes on.
A gay character who benefits from Chuck and Larry’s scam.
Ving Rhames’ character is part gay stereotype, part narcissist. He was a big, muscular firefighter buried deep in a closet. When he does appear, it is played for laughs, but his character retains his masculine aura, to a degree.
Even the least awake viewers can cringe at Rob Schneider’s lengthy guest show. Aluminum “SNL” frequently appears in Sandler films in deep camouflage. Here, he is an Asian man with moldy teeth and eyes.
Characters connect for all the wrong reasons to Mickey Rooney’s work in “Breakfast at Tiffany’s,” and although it was not a mental performance there would be very few defenders present.
James’ character has two children, a boy and a girl. The guy is either gay or obsessed with the musical scene. Papa loves him dearly but seems perplexed that the boy doesn’t live and breathe Mets baseball like his father.
The youngster plays a small but important role in the message of the film, as both Chuck and Larry cheer for his passion in the third act. The finale feels a bit awakening for its time, pushing the narrative acceptance so hard that it overwhelms the comedy.
It’s still moving to see Richard Chamberlain, a veteran actor forced to hide his homosexuality for decades, play a small but very important role.
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Critics Aren’t Kind to “Chuck & Larry” during its theatrical release. A modern critic has called it Sandler’s worst movie, this can only be true if you skip “Just Go With It”.
“Chuck and Larry” isn’t a comedy classic and it doesn’t compare to the iconic laughs in “Blazing Saddles”. The two still share the same DNA.
The 1974 film is the number one example of an old comedy that just can’t be done today. Everybody, including creator Mel Brooks, say more.
And few disagree.
Brooks’ Western Adventures ignites the racial divide between campfire vibrancy and genre tension. It also shows characters that use “n-word” and would otherwise violate the newly woken up rules. Texting to the house was harder because Brooks refused to do his punches. And he created one of the best comedies in modern history, doubling down as a bait for hate.
Not bad for a crappy comedy, right? Except that no modern screenwriter has come close to that material, or taken such risks to uncover and expose bigotry.
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