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Review #533 of 365
Movie Review of Good Luck Chuck (2007) [R] 96 minutes
WIP™ Scale: $13.50
Where Viewed: United Artists Denver Pavilions Stadium 15, Denver, CO
When 1st Seen: 23 September 2007
Time: 5:45 pm
DVD Release Date: 15 January 2008 (click date to purchase or pre-order)
Film's Official Website • Film's Trailer
Soundtrack: Download now from 
- or - order the CD below
Directed by: Mark Helfrich (debut)
Written by : Josh Stolberg (Kids in America) based on the short story by Steve Glenn
Featured Cast (Where You Might Remember Him/Her From):
Dane Cook (Mr. Brooks) • Dan Fogler (Balls of Fury) • Ellia English ("The Jamie Foxx Show") • Chang Tseng (Everything's Gone Green) • Jessica Alba (Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer) • Yasmine Vox ("Supernatural") • Lonny Ross ("30 Rock") • Jodie Stewart (debut) • Jodelle Ferland (The Messengers) • Michelle Harrison (The Invisible)
Click for 'Review Lite' [a 150-word or less review of this film]
Click to read the spoiler points for Good Luck Chuck
"Zany, vibrant, and sexually potent...Good Luck Chuck is the most complexly engaging comedy of 2007."
The story begins with young Charlie playing Spin the Bottle at a birthday party with his fellow elementary school friends. He ends up in the closet with Anisha an overly aggressive girl who's had designs on him since the 4th grade. She wants to see his package. She rips off his shirt, scratches his chest because Cosmo says that men like that kind of thing, and when he won't deliver, she hexes him with a nasty curse. It shall rain women upon him, but he shall never find love, instead they'll find their true love as soon as they dump him. Twenty years later, Charlie (Dane Cook) is now a Dentist and his best friend Stu (Dan Fogler) is a plastic surgeon—no not the kind that helps out when a person is in a terrible accident and requires facial reconstructive surgery, the kind that provides corrective enhancements to females, mostly, well, almost exclusively, well, Stu probably wouldn’t work on a dude if he wanted the surgery because, actually, he's in the profession to help women look the way he wants them to look. Truth be told, Stu is smarmy at best and lecherous at worst when it comes to his desire to be as close to bare-chested women as possible. Therefore, when he learns about and begins to understand his best friend's curse, he encourages him to capitalize on it for all it's worth. You see, yes, the curse seems to have worked. Charlie finds himself unable to commit to the words "I love you" causing him to be continually dumped by women who then immediately find the 'perfect' guy and get married. His track record on this is so overwhelming, that every woman he meets wants to have him so she can find her dream man. Even his full-figured administrative assistant, Reba (Ellia English), wants in on his action. On the Internet dating sites, he becomes known as Good Luck Chuck as in Good Luck Charm. But, at the wedding of one of his formers, he meets the girl of his real dreams, Cam Wexler (Jessica Alba). She, of all people, could really use a good luck charm because she's got the worst, most accident-prone luck of any person alive. Still, he's drawn to her like no woman before. A penguin habitat manager, not that that has anything to do with her reasoning, Cam wants nothing to do with Charlie. She doesn't believe in the charm and thinks he's just taking advantage of women by offering his services. In a reality check of epic proportions, Charlie realizes that he cannot fall in real love with Cam because the moment he does, is the moment she becomes vulnerable to the curse and then ends up in the arms of her soul mate not him. So, what can he do to ensure that this never happens? How can he be the next guy she's with after she dumps him? Well, first he has to get her to dump him, and second then he's got to convince her that he's the right one for her. Watching him go overboard in just about everything he does to get this to happen is half the fun of the film.
Dane Cook is amazing. He plays this role with only a tiny bit of sheepishness and then only when egged on by Stu. This gives him just the right amounts to be believable to both men and women. Dan Fogler proves his range and ability as the sidekick on the heels of an entirely different character than he played in Balls of Fury. Meanwhile, Jessica Alba plays above the stereotypes of her character creating one that's enchanting while inelegantly possessing the same awkwardness on land as penguins and likewise the same grace they suddenly exhibit when in the water. Not only does she play hard to get well, driving Charlie over the edge, but she knows when he's cramping her style and preventing her from getting on with her life. These three make up for a great cast, despite their obviously odd pairings. Director Mark Helfrich has done an outstanding job in really getting at this thing called love and the absolutely insane things it will make people do. It's too bad, however, that the character of Eleanor Skipple, a grotesque manifestation of every undesirable quality in a female had to be used in the film in such a detrimental way. This common strategy in comedy, to make fun of people who are overweight, is not to be condoned in any way, and negatively affected the W.I.P. Scale™ score for the film, just so you know. The film buckles too much at times to stereotypes while simultaneously celebrating the cool and unique differences between the genders. Therefore, on the one hand it shows some frailty, while on the other great enlightenment. It lands, though, because of this struggle which is far better than simply being in the stereotype-dependent category, on the higher side. And, truly, it is an uproarious romantic comedy with a strong sense of understanding of the needs of all kinds of men and women playing to secret desires of both and with the eventual emphasis, even for smarmy Stu, on finding a true love and equally satisfying soul mates.
Alternate Poster -- Click to Purchase
Alternate Poster -- Click to Purchase
Alternate Poster -- Click to Purchase
Click for 'Review Lite' [a 150-word review of this film]
Other Projects Featuring Good Luck Chuck (2007)
Cast Members
Dane Cook
• Dan Fogler • Ellia EnglishChang Tseng
• Jessica Alba • Yasmine VoxLonny Ross
• Jodie Stewart • Jodelle FerlandMichelle Harrison
Director
Mark Helfrich
Writer
Josh Stolberg
| CD Soundtrack | DVD | VHS |
2 comments:
This movie is the worst of the 2000's. Expect light chuckles. Are you just trying to get quoted on a commercial? God knows no one else gave this movie a good recommendation and for good reason.
Anon, please let me know if I get quoted in a commercial, it would be my first time, and it would be pretty cool!
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