Good Luck Chuck

Good Luck Chuck *1/2

Directed by Mark Helfrich
Written by Josh Stolberg, based on the short story by Steve Glenn

Starring:
Dane Cook as Charlie
Jessica Alba as Cam Wexler
Dan Fogler as Stu

96 minutes(Rated R for sequences of strong sexual content including crude dialogue, nudity, language and some drug use. )
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Now, "Good Luck Chuck" is a dirty movie. The rating does not lie by a single letter. And by dirty, I mean one of the filthiest and nasty films in recent memory. Summer comedies like "Superbad" and "Knocked Up" had their share of raunch, but they did it in a rather tasteful matter-the dirty humor meshed with some actually sweet moments to make something a little special-more so "Superbad" than the rather overrated "Knocked Up." But "Good Luck Chuck" takes dirty jokes about sex and sexuality, and turn them into a rather uncomfortable and unpleasant time-it attempts to be bit romantic, but at that point the film has pushed the limits from down and dirty comedy, to just plain filth. And while I did get a laugh or two, for every ten rapid jokes, there are about two winners, and there's at least over a hundred jokes here. The laugh to frown ratio is bad.

Dane Cook impressed me over the summer with his more dramatic turn in "Mr. Brooks," but he gets another low grade in my book here as Charlie Logan. As a boy, Charlie refused to have sex with a young goth girl during a game of "Seven Minutes in Heaven," and in return she put a hex on him. Years later, he notices a trend. He'll date a woman, they will dump him, and then the next guy that they meet they marry. Repeat. He is convinced that he is cursed, and at first he decides to just enjoy this. But after banging woman after woman, he finds that the fact that they are just using him for the next guy leaves him empty and alone. His dirty plastic surgeon friend Stu (played by Dan Fogler, a Tony Award winner that has been in both this and "Balls of Fury," and calls that a film career) says that he's crazy, but everything changes for Charlie when he meets Kam, played by Jessica Alba. Kam is klutzy, rather goofy, girl, but Charlie falls hard for her, and is scared that if he sleeps with her, she'll leave him for the next guy that she meets. And Charlie tries to keep the girl and get rid of the hex that has haunted him for years.

I saw Jessica Alba on an episode of 'David Letterman' a few weeks ago, and was struck by how clever and funny and even a little witty she is. The banter between her and Letterman was almost golden, and made for great television. But whatever charm that she has is real life is killed by such terrible scripts, and "Good Luck Chuck" is no exception. And her banter with Cook is even worse. I don't mind raunchy humor, but it has to eventually serve a purpose, and maybe even be blended with a little heart-"40 Year Old Virgin," "Knocked Up," and "Superbad" are three films that were massive hits because they managed to have humanity with their dirt. The romance aspect here is so obvious, so cookie-cutter, and so paint by numbers, that it doesn't even offer a hint of realism. And the plot is insanely silly, but in a rather stupid way as opposed to offering any real laughs. Sure, it had a couple of laughs-I literally use the word "couple" here-but on the whole it's a rather unpleasant experience, pushing the limit at times for no other reason that to push the limit. A montage sequence of Charlie enjoying his curse ends up pushing the line into pornography, and it goes on for quite some time. This is hopefully a comedy that will vanish to the ends of the Earth, and Cook should work on his drama-"Mr. Brooks" was a grand time. On the other hand, "Good Luck Chuck" sucks.

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