Review by Nathan Chandler for The Mungles on Movies

  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 clichÈs 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.

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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. When Nathan isn't writing or producing short films on the side, he is wishing he was on Survivor, rooting for the Cowboys, or making sweet tea runs to Chick-fil-a. You can reach Nathan at his blog. Nathan also co-hosts The Film Alcove Podcast. Check it out!