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Sometimes in life people try to make things happen that aren’t just meant to be.  It’s the pair of jeans that you keep in your closet from 10 years back in hopes to snug back into them one day.  Or it might be trying to become an Olympic gymnast when you are 6’5”.  My personal fault is always trying to convince myself that orange juice will taste good after brushing my teeth. The brains behind Good Luck Chuck have fallen into this deviating trap by trying to mix a sweet romantic comedy with a vulgar sex romp and the results are neither charming nor witty.

Charlie Logan (Dane Cook) finds himself in a predicament of choosing between a one-night stand and true love.  Discovering that he may have been hexed at age ten after a spin-the-bottle encounter gone horribly wrong, Charlie finds himself as the hottest bachelor not just in his town, but on the Internet as well.  Women start using Charlie as a “good luck charm” when it is discovered that after a passionate night with him, it undoubtedly leads to them finding their true love, and it’s not him.  Despite his pal’s (Dan Fogler) beckoning to embrace this curse, Charlie comes to a crossroad as he falls for Cam (Jessica Alba), a beautiful, yet clumsy, penguin trainer.  To prevent Cam from finding love with the next guy she meets, Charlie embarks on a journey to rid the curse that has plagued him from finding true intimacy.

What left me with such a bad taste in my mouth was not so much the usual clichés you find in generic American comedies, but it’s that Good Luck Chuck has to resort to tasteless jokes to receive any kind of laughter from its audience.  The debate of whether an off-color joke is funny or not will always be there, but this movie uses them in such a way that the filmmakers clearly have no faith in an audience to get a smart joke.  No thought goes into the humor, and instead of being tongue-in-cheek, it’s just cruel.  It really had potential to explore the role reversal idea that the male feels like the used one in a relationship, but it ends up being hypocritical in nature and just plain degrading towards women.

The movie holds Dane Cook back from his improvisational nature that made him so famous as a stand-up comedian, and Dan Fogler bombs as a plastic surgeon who instead of being a comic relief, becomes the creepy guy you stay away from in public places.  Jessica Alba is beautiful as always, but brings nothing new to a character that is placed in implausible situations.

Good Luck Chuck is not for the faint of heart when it comes to its adult content.  It’s very gratuitous in its use of crude dialogue and nudity and
pushes the R-rating about as far as it can go. Being a romantic/sex comedy, it’s trying to grab both the male and female demographic, but I can’t think of a more awkward movie to take a date to.  Yeah, it had a few laughs and “aww” moments here and there, but it’s just not worth the journey this movie takes you on.  I give Good Luck Chuck 0.5 out of 5 friendship cards.

Review by Nathan Chandler, contributing writer for The Mungles on Movies

Nathan Chandler is a video producer and editor who lives in the heart of Dallas. He has a knack for making awesome mix CDs and has a vast knowledge for movie trivia. Nathan co-hosts The Film Alcove Podcast on iTunes."

Review copyright 2007 Mungleshow Productions. Used by Permission.