On occasion a film will come along that is so reprehensibly bad that it almost suspends belief that it was made in the first place.

However, matters are made even worse when an artist you have come to respect and admire is linked to such an abomination. Such is the case with I Now Pronounce You Chuck and Larry, a gay comedy propaganda travesty written by Alexander Payne and Jim Taylor. That’s right, the mAn behind stellar films About Schmidt and Sideways wrote this sham of a movie.

The film focuses on two New York Firefighters and long time best friends Chuck (Adam Sandler) and Larry (Kevin James). Chuck is a self-proclaimed man-whore and homophobe who exhibits great bravery in his line of work, and Larry is a single father to Tori (Shelby Adamowsky) and Eric (Cole Morgan), the latter exhibiting a number of homosexual traits (such as a flare for musicals) which concerns Larry.

Due to Larry’s constant mourning over his late wife’s passing, he misses his chance to change the primary beneficiary of his pension from his wife to his children. His only option is to get married; yet he is unable to find a woman trustworthy enough to think of his children’s future. After spotting an article in the paper about gay marriage, Larry conceives a plan where he and Chuck will enter a domestic partnership so that Chuck will receive his pension and custody of his children.

At first Chuck is resilient, but after much pleading he gives in to his best friends wishes. However it does not take long for the pair to be placed under investigation for fraud by Clinton Fitzer (Steve Buscemi). They in turn hire lawyer Alex McDonough (Jessica Biel), who Chuck falls in love with. The pair must also contend with the changing attitudes of their friends and colleagues.     

I Now Pronounce You Chuck and Larry is a confusing and arrogant comedy that could not raise a laugh if its life depended on it. Its suffocatingly overbearing social commentary and offensive stereotypes makes it a film extremely hard to laugh with or take seriously, as it struggles to walk on the side of self righteousness while its head is up its own bum crack.

Its theatrics, sentimentality, and politics are vomit inducing, as are the atrocious performances from the usually solid Kevin James and overrated man-child Adam Sandler. Rob Schneider continues to stink up the silver screen with another awful performance as an Asian master of ceremonies, and Ving Rhames is pitifully appalling as a badass fireman who comes out of the closet.

Jessica Biel also puts on a poor showing, and is reduced mainly to walking around with hardly anything on. Her role is a key example of the films misogynistic attitude where every woman presented is a whore, the straw breaking the camels back when a woman doctor inexplicably becomes Sandler’s love slave in a future scene.    

Despite its good intentions, the films representation of homosexual lifestyle comes off as crass, unoriginal and slightly homophobic. In an attempt to counter these problems, it quickly raises its gay flag midway to become a pro gay propaganda piece, and does not relent in bashing the viewer over the head with its own moral and political observations.

Yet its hypocritical nature does not do it any favours. It may speak of tolerance, yet its stereotypes of women, Asian’s, Christian’s and homosexuals offers little in the way of broad-mindedness or sensitivity. Yet above all, I Now Pronounce You Chuck and Larry just plain sucks!