Writer: Josh Stolberg
Director: Mark Helfrich
Cast: Dane Cook, Jessica Alba, Dan Fogler, Lonny Ross
Rating: R
Studio: Lionsgate
Release Date: January 15, 2008

The romantic comedy is a funny film genre. The really good romantic comedies would have a place in my heart, if they are all like When Harry Met Sally. The problem is that 99% of romantic comedies are just not that good. The previews for Good Luck Chuck made it seem like a funny movie.

Without seeing the movie you could guess that Dane Cook is cursed and he is in love with Jessica Alba who is klutzier than she might be worth. Naturally, accident prone people are somewhat funny. I don’t know about you, but it’s hard to stay straight faced when someone gets electrocuted. You may not laugh out loud (especially in real life), but there is emotion going on somewhere.

The fact of the matter is that much of this film’s success will hinge solely on the star power. Jessica Alba fans will see this so that they can see her in her panties. Dane Cook fans will see this because they think he is hilarious in everything that he does. That may not be entirely true, but it’s certainly possible that he has been in worse.

Release Information:
Good Luck Chuck had a sad run in theaters before being released on DVD on January 15, 2008. The movie, which was released by Lionsgate, offers a number of bonus features and featurettes. The angle is somewhat different as far as romantic comedies go, but all of the elements are there. Unfortunately, the public just did not embrace this film as much as they could have. For those interested in purchasing this on DVD, you can find it on Amazon for $16.99.

The Good Luck Chuck Plot
Dane Cook did not receive too much attention for his part in Waiting and while he did get attention for Employee of the Month, it wasn’t the kind of attention that he’d truly want. It’s safe to say that Good Luck Chuck is somewhere between those two performances. Cook was awesome in Waiting and Employee of the Month was so bad that no one could tell how good or not his performance was. Good Luck Chuck is definitely better than that, but it’s not Waiting. Then again, after being a server myself, I could be entirely partial, though I could imagine many would agree with me on this one.

The premise of Good Luck Chuck revolves around a dentist named Charlie Logan (Cook). Logan had a curse put on him by a goth kid when he was in elementary school and it ends up changing his life as an adult. The curse ensures that when a woman sleeps with Logan she will meet the man she is going to marry right after they are together. While he does not realize this pattern at first, an ex at a wedding thanks him for helping her find her husband and before you know it, woman and gay men across the city are calling to have their teeth cleaned!

Logan’s best friend Stu (Dan Fogler) sits and watches in envy as Logan beds more women than you can imagine, all to help them find the love of their life. This works just fine for him until he meets the lovely and accident prone Cam (Alba). Cam is obsessed with penguins and plays hard to get despite the admission from her pot-obsessed brother that she needs to get with Charlie because penguin lovers need human love, too.

Once he finally gets to date Cam, Logan has to determine what is more important…being Cam’s friend or sleeping with her and losing her to the next man she sees. You can expect a few laughs, though not as many well developed ones as there could have been, and a cutesy love story that is typical for today’s movie market.

While it’s better than Employee of the Month (but then what isn’t?) there were some considerable problems here. For starters the characters lacked any discernable type of development. The only thing that really distinguished one from the next was a different name and the possibility of one gender or the other. There were plenty of nameless, faceless women, a horn dog, a dentist who was meant to be funnier than he was, and a woman who had a completely unnatural penguin fetish. A little more development really could have taken this film a long way. In the end, it appears to be a movie resting on the shoulders of two pseudo-stars and a studio looking to make bank on their names.

Storyline/Plot:
Replayability:
Acting:
Directing:

Audio/Visual:
Whether you like this film or not it is hard to deny the beauty of this video transfer and the overall quality of the film, in this respect. 1.78:1 anamorphic widescreen rarely disappoints. This picture is absolutely solid with bright, verdant colors and a spectacularly crisp quality. The audio is a clean, clear Dolby Digital 5.1 track that sounds beautiful with both musical elements and dialogue. An optional, Dolby 2.0 stereo track and English and Spanish subtitles are also available.

Visual:
Audio:

Bonus Features:
Special features here begin with a good old fashioned commentary. This particular commentary is quite interesting as it contains Dane Cook, the director, the producer, and the screenwriter. There are several featurettes on this disc that include “Polymastia”, “Kama Sutra”, “Frank the Penguin Actor”, and “All About Penguins”. There is also a sex matrix that is paired up with some of the naughty scenes, for a look back at the hot movie love, a gag reel, three deleted scenes, an alternate ending, and some final ad-libs.

Bonus Features:

Bottom Line:
Good Luck Chuck is not the worst movie I’ve ever seen, but it’s not one that is going to be watched and fawned over in years to come. This makes a good rental movie and makes a better make-out movie. However, it should be noted that it’s not because it will get you in the mood. It’s only because you won’t really care if you end up missing something on screen.

Overall Rating:

Technorati Tags: Good Luck Chuck, Comedy, Dane Cook, Jessica Alba, Sex, Love, Lionsgate, Home Entertainment

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