On a day in which I almost fell out of chair because 1) George W. Bush- of all people- said something I 100- percent agree with (more on that later) and 2) Bill Clinton went after Barack Obama in New Hampshire as if he were his number one political nemesis Mike Huckabee (they are both from Hope, Ark., after all), I was stunned to hear respected "Village Voice" film critic Nathan Lee put the Adam Sandler film "I Know Pronounce You Chuck and Larry" on his top ten films of the year list.
I almost would have sooner expected the Hollywood Writer's Strike to be fully resolved!
I saw the film about two New York firefighters who pretend to be gay in order to get benefits at a drive-in theatre in Eden, NC, this August as part of a double-bill with "The Bourne Ultimatum."
The film is actually a tad bit better than the mostly awful reviews it has received. Among the writers for Dennis Dugan's film were Alexander Payne, who wrote and directed the great film "Sideways."
Lee was the only film critic in the "LA Weekly/Village Voice" film critics poll to vote for "Chuck and Larry" though "Blades of Glory" got two points in the critics' survey and the sequel to Eli Roth's torture porn film "Hostel" ("Hostel : Part 2) also received a vote.
The openly-gay New York film critic named Richard Kelly's follow-up to "Donnie Darko," "Southland Tales" as his film of the year. As Lee noted in his column about his choices, the film was a complete box office flop.
Lee said the negative reviews of "Chuck and Larry" come from well-meaning straight film critics. Among those who trashed the film most vocally were Peter Travers of "Rolling Stone."
But, Lee was adamant in his defense of the film:
"This shit is mad funny and it will do more to normalize the idea of gay marriage than a hundred crap fag entries booked at the Quad."
This is not the first time Lee has championed a film that is seemingly devoid of any artistic merit. In an issue of "Film Comment," he praised the ping-pong parody "Balls of Fury" with Christopher Walken. It is in fact my choice for the very worst film of 2007.
The survey named the latest Daniel Day Lewis vehicle "There Will be Blood" as its film of the year. The film opened in Washington, D.C. over the weekend. It opens in Raleigh, NC, on Friday and at The Grandin Theatre in Roanoke, Va., later in the month.
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