I feel sorry for any R-rated romantic comedy that is released within the next year, because they will all be compared to the summer blockbuster Knocked Up, and unfortunately Good Luck Chuck is not even in the same ballpark.
Held back by a PG-13 rated script, bad casting, and ever worse acting Good Luck Chuck causes a few chuckles, but falls way short of both expectations and potential.
At the age of 10 Charlie (Dane Cook) broke the cardinal rule of spin-the-bottle by refusing to lock lips with 'the goth girl'. As punishment, the woman put a hex on Charlie, enabling him to find 'the right girl'. Now, 25 years later, Charlie's reputation and popularity as a future bride's 'good luck charm' is growing, causing Charlie to put his life in check. After submitting to his title, Charlie grows tired of the pointless sex and lonely nights and decides to go after the accident prone Cam (Jessica Alba). However, with his hex still intact, getting Cam and keeping Cam are two completely different stories.
The movie starts off really strong, containing jokes that cause a few chuckles, but the lack of chemistry between Alba and Cook was so prevalent that the film couldn't really carry a flow. I spent part of the film trying to decide who was the worst actor, Dane or Alba, and in the end, in an effort to save time, I blamed both. On top of that we have an innocent Alba, who is cast as an older, sex driven lady, something about as far fetched as you can get. Combine that with Cook, who plays a guy ready to settle down, and the story becomes extremely hard to believe.
With that said, the film wasn't all bad. Cook has some really hilarious scenes with the plastic surgeon across the hall, not to mention the numerous times that Alba finds herself hurting herself. It is just relying on just those two aspects alone only gets the film so far. By the hour mark it has grown into a "˜been there done that', generic comedy, something that I was hoping it wouldn't become.
As far as the jokes go, there are plenty of those. Some funny, some pretty stupid (the later usually happening between Cook and Alba); however, there were just enough to be rightfully considered a comedy. So, though not nearly as good as the likes of Knocked Up or even Superbad, the movie, for the most part is still enjoyable and will make you laugh. Just don't go in with high expectations.
