Good Luck Chuck movie poster
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Good Luck Chuck movie poster

Good Luck Chuck Movie Review

Now available on Blu-ray and DVD (Buy on Amazon)

I'm not a Dane Cook fan, and while I do like Jessica Alba for what she is, she has rarely starred in a good movie. Their recent collaboration Good Luck Chuck opened to tepid reviews and not much box office support, but I had high hopes: the movie looked sort of funny, featured Jessica Alba looking about as hot as I've ever seen her, and had an R rating offering lots of nudity.

And Good Luck Chuck, which comes to DVD January 15, 2008, does have some of all of that. There are some funny bits, Jessica Alba is scorching, and there is an excellent amount of nudity, but even the synergy of those three factors can't make up for the miserable third act of the picture.

Good Luck Chuck is about a guy named Charlie (Cook) who has never had problems with getting women, though he hasn't had much luck with commitment. As he quickly discovers, an urban myth has emerged that any woman who has sex with him will meet the man of her dreams shortly thereafter. When he meets the clumsy but beautiful Cam, however, he begins to suspect that the myth may actually be true. He sets out to prove to himself that he's just being paranoid, but all of the evidence suggests that if he sleeps with Cam, she will get married to the next guy she meets. Can he get the girl... and keep her?

Admittedly, I think the concept is pretty good. After all, it sets the stage for a very guy-friendly story involving lots of sex and nudity, but then also has a romantic comedy angle to it as well. For a while, the movie is entertaining enough. Good Luck Chuck is never terrific, but Dane is good enough in the lead, there is plenty of nudity (Alba comes close, but sorry, guys, no real nudity from her) and a few funny gags here and there. Alba works well in her role. Chuck also succeeds with a few gross-out gags that have failed so miserably over the last several years; the sex scene with the fat woman is quite disturbing.

That being said, Good Luck Chuck never finds its footing, and when it comes close, the movie quickly spirals out of control. The movie relies a bit too much on physical comedy at times; apparently, Jessica Alba's character was made to be super clumsy for the sole reason of giving her something to do. The movie is never consistently funny, and that is partially due to the fact that Dane Cook just isn't that funny; he's okay, but truly good comedic actors could have made more out of this picture.

The real problem with Good Luck Chuck, however, is that the whole final act just sucks. Cook's character turns into an obsessively obnoxious stalker, and the movie transgresses into the typical "run-to-the-airport-to-win-back-the-girl" routine. However, unlike most romantic comedies where the couple's fighting is based on absolutely absurd reasons that would never split someone up in the first place, Alba's character had every reason to dump his ass and never look back; Cook really does go a bit crazy, and any intelligent woman wouldn't think twice about dropping him like 20 pounds of extra fat. When they get back together at the end, as you know they would, I cried just a little. Basically, though, the transformation of Cook's character into a near psychopath just never really made sense, and it makes the entire end of the movie completely unenjoyable.

Good Luck Chuck is decent enough for the most part, but the nudity and early gags can't make up for the disaster that is the last half an hour.

Review by Erik Samdahl unless otherwise indicated.

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