Director:
Mark Helfrich
Starring:
Dane Cook ………. Charlie / “Chuck”
Jessica Alba ………. Cam Wexler
Dan Fogler ………. Stuf
Chelan Simmons ………. Carol
Connor Price ………. Young Charlie
Troy Gentile ………. Young Stu
Sasha Pieterse ………. Goth Girl
The Movie
Dane Cook has quickly become one of the most successful comedians around today. He has also quickly become one of the most polarizing comedians around today as well. For every one person that loves Dane Cook and thinks he is hilarious, there is another that doesn’t know why he is so popular when they believe that he has ripped off jokes from other “edgier” comedians. Like any popular stand-up comedian, you knew it was only a matter of time before Dane Cook made his way onto the “big screen” and attempt to be the “leading man” in movies. Despite so-so results in his first film as the “leading man”, Employee of the Month, Dane Cook attempts it again in his latest film, Good Luck Chuck.
Good Luck Chuck is all about a guy named Charlie Logan (Dane Cook). When Charlie was 10 years old, he broke one of the cardinal rules of spin the bottle and refused to lip-lock with a demented goth girl (Sasha Pieterse) and she put a hex on him. Now, 25 years later, Charlie is a successful dentist, but is still cursed. While his plastic-surgeon best friend, Stu (Dan Fogler), pursues as many of his patients as possible, Charlie can’t seem to find the right girl. Even worse, he discovers at an ex-girlfriend’s wedding that every woman he’s ever slept with has found true love with the next guy after him. Before he knows it, Charlie’s reputation as a “good luck charm” has women, from sexy strangers to his overweight receptionist, lining up for a quickie. A life filled with all sex and no love has Charlie lonelier than ever until he meets Cam (Jessica Alba), an accident-prone penguin specialist. But when a genuine romance develops, Charlie realizes he’s got to find a way to break his good-luck curse before the girl of his dreams winds up with the next guy she meets.
Dane Cook made a surprising appearance in a dramatic role for the movie Mr. Brooks. Surprising in the fact that Cook was actually pretty good in that role with little comedy to be found. Maybe Dane should stick to dramatic films or at least be in comedies that have an ensemble cast. That’s not to say that Dane does a bad job as the “leading man” in this “romantic comedy”. He really does have strong charisma and it helps this movie more than it hurts, but he is not given enough support to make this film as funny as it could have been. Jessica Alba is decent as Cook’s love interest and is actually quite funny, but Dan Fogler as Cook’s best friend is hit or miss.
The entire cast does a respectable job of what they are given, but ultimately the major problem of this film is what is written for them. The script doesn’t know what it wants to be. Director, Mark Helfrich, tries to pull off a Judd Apatow impression or a “Frat Pack” impression by blending a “romantic comedy” seamlessly into a filthy comedy like Wedding Crashers or Knocked Up. While there is plenty of filth in this movie, Good Luck Chuck is really lacking on the wholesome sentimentality that made the aforementioned films great.
It seems like they started out making a “romantic comedy” between Alba and Cook, which might have worked since they do have some chemistry together, but thought that it might turn off some Dane Cook fans who want more vulgar material. So instead of sprinkling in the vulgarities to perfection like Superbad or The 40-Year-Old Virgin, they went overboard and threw in too much stuff that was just gross and not really that funny. Other gags just didn’t work at all since most of the material here is not that original to begin with.
With another director and possibly a better supporting cast, Good Luck Chuck could have been a lot better. It is not the worst comedy out there, but the problem is it really doesn’t know what it wants to be. Dane Cook could be a great comedic leading man in his next movie, but he will need help to get there. Good Luck Chuck ultimately proves that you actually have to be smart to make a great lowbrow, rude and crude, sex comedy that is actually uplifting, romantic, and surprisingly funny. You just can’t throw all of the pieces up against the wall and hope that they stick.
The Video:
The video is given in 1.78:1 anamorphic widescreen color, which is enhanced for 16:9 TVs. The video is really top-notch quality here. There are no major issues here.
The Audio:
The audio included is available in either English Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround EX sound or English Dolby Digital 2.0 Surround sound. There are subtitles available in English and Spanish as well. The music and dialogue come out loud and clear, so no major problems here either.
The Extras:
Audio Commentary
There is a full-length audio commentary with Dane Cook (actor), Mark Helfrich (director), Mike Karz (producer), and Josh Stolberg (writer). They say this is “unrated commentary”, but really all that means is that Dane uses language that he would use during any stand-up routine. Nothing too shocking, though, especially for this movie. This does cover what you want in a commentary. It is both entertaining and informative.
Polymastia”” Featurette
Polymastia means “multiple mammaries” and this is what this four minute featurette is all about. There is a woman with three breasts instead of two in this movie. Cast and crew discuss this phenomenon and how they did that for the movie since it’s hard to find a woman with three breasts. Enlightening for sure.
“Kama Sutra” Featurette
This three minute featurette discusses the scene where Dane is having sex with various women in lots of different positions. They talk about making that scene, which is actually quite funny.
“Frank the Penguin Actor” Featurette
This three minute featurette is all about Frank the Penguin, who plays “Grumpy” in the movie. This is just weird, but if you want to know all about Frank and his part in the movie, here you go.
“All About Penguins” Featurette
This eight minute featurette is more about working with penguins in this movie. A little more interesting than the previous penguin featurette.
Sex Matrix
You can “relive” all 16 sex positions performed by Dane Cook and various women in the movie, one after another. You saw them all in the movie, but if you want to “examine” them again, here you go.
Gag Reel
This is five minutes worth of bloopers from the movie. All of it is funny as you might expect.
Ad-Libs
Here you have nine minutes worth of ad-libs from Stu (Dan Fogler), Charlie (Dane Cook), and the airport security guard (Robert Kelly). Basically, they go off the script for a couple of minutes and create new lines on the spot. They are like bloopers, but these are on purpose. All of it is funny, though.
Deleted and Alternate Scenes
There is one deleted scene and two alternate scenes here. You won’t be missing much, if you don’t watch these.
Dane Cook and Jessica Alba fans will probably enjoy this film, and may even like it enough to buy it. I can only recommend a rental of this film at best for everyone else, though. This film had some good ideas, but none of them were put together to make it as funny as it could be. Still there is some decent comedy to be found in here, just don’t expect anything that you really haven’t seen before.
