Do you believe in luck? How about getting lucky? Comedian Dane Cook certainly gets more than his fair share of both in his new comedy “Good Luck Chuck,” which opens in theaters today.
Director Mark Helfrich (“X-Men: The Last Stand,” the “Rush Hour” trilogy) helms this new romantic comedy, which interestingly enough, is actually inspired by the life of a real person. One of the producers, Mike Karz, thought it would make a great romantic comedy idea after hearing a man tell his story of his breakups and how all his exes seemed to get married to the next person they dated.
Cook returns to his roots in comedy after a brief jaunt into more serious filmmaking in “Mr. Brooks.” In “Good Luck Chuck” Dane plays dentist Charlie Logan. When Charlie was 10 years old, he fell victim to a curse set on him by a young goth girl because he wouldn’t make out with her during a game of spin the bottle.
Years later at an ex-girlfriend’s wedding, he finds out that every woman he has ever slept with has found true love with the next guy she meets. Hundreds of women start to line themselves up to sleep with him, in hopes that his good luck will rub off on them.
There is quite a montage of Charlie sleeping with all these women so if multiple shots of Cook’s bare ass and allusions to his genitalia make you uncomfortable, don’t say I didn’t warn you.
When asked how he compares himself to his character Charlie, Cook says that he’s actually introverted in his regular life.
“I’m not a guy that, like Chuck, can even really go full tilt boogie and just kind of get any girl that he wants. I’m a little bit more of a, you know, romantic type and I guess I believe in serendipity and things of that nature.”
The aforementioned wedding, Charlie meets Cam (Jessica Alba, “Sin City”), a penguin trainer whom he finds particularly attractive. The sweet but ultraclumsy Cam finally gives in to Charlie and goes out on a date with him after a round of playing hard to get. The two completely hit it off. The only catch: Charlie thinks that if he sleeps with her, she’ll go on and find true love with the next guy.
Alba admitted in an interview that she is very much like Cam. She is goofy and clumsy in real life, despite her cool image and sex appeal. Compared to other roles she has played, this was her chance to not only try some physical comedy, but also to play a character not unlike herself in many ways.
The two guys that really steal the movie, though, are Dan Fogler (“Balls of Fury”) who plays Charlie’s best friend and Lonny Ross (“30 Rock”) who plays Cam’s brother. Any time either of these two are in the scene, you will laugh.
Fogler seems to excel in playing the comedic buffoon. He even one-ups his previous performance with a scene in which Charlie catches him doing something risqué with a grapefruit. I think you may get the idea.
So far in his career it seems as though Cook picks his movie roles based on which of the hottest actresses in Hollywood he wants to work with next, but he and Alba actually play well opposite one another.
Most of their moments together on screen are sweet, but Cook can go a little too over the top sometimes. It’s these moments that reflect more of the physicality of his stand up routine rather than a comedic leading man, but there is definitely promise in his ability to play the guy next door.
