Movie #237 - Good Luck Chuck

Good Luck Chuck
2007 - Rated R - 1 hr 36 min
Director: Mark Helfrich
Starring: Dane Cook, Jessica Alba, Dan Fogler

Aside from the disturbing movie poster, there's not much about this comedy that sets it apart from the white noise of rom-coms out there.  It is exactly as advertised: boy meets girl, boy screws up, miscommunication occurs, hillarity ensues, boy gets girl.  The road there is a little weirder than usual, but it's predictable.

Now, that's not to say it's not funny to watch them get from Point A to Point E.  The added elements of Chuck's curse (that every girl he's with will marry the next guy she meets) and Jessica Alba's klutzy crazy make it different enough to make you laugh.  But there are parts that even gross me out... so yeah, there's that too.

Anyway... nothing exemplary, but Dane Cook and Jessica Alba make a cute couple.  And those penguins are adorable too.

Movie #182 - Employee of the Month (2006)

Employee of the Month
2006 - Rated PG-13 - 1 hr 43 min
Director: Greg Coolidge
Starring: Jessica Simpson, Dane Cook, Dax Shepard, Andy Dick, Harland Williams, Efren Ramirez

Hey, it's Pedro (from Napoleon Dynamite)! And he plays almost the same character!  And Jessica Simpson makes a worthy attempt at acting, but falls flat. Shocking.

So Dane Cook is the lazy guy who's had a tough life. Dax Shepard is the douche-bag who is happy to be a 17-month employee of the month at a wholesale superstore (like BJ's).  Both of them are kinda losers, but only Dane Cook is aware of it.  And he wants to date Jessica Simpson, who is strangely oblivious to Dax Shepard's douchey-ness. 

What bothers me the most about this movie is the way Dane Cook's friends turn on him so suddenly. "Friends."  He's trying to become a better man - breaking his butt, actually - and they're like, "Oh, you're too cool for us now! What about us?!" How about a little support, guys?  In the end, they come through for him. But their sudden anger towards him seems forced, since I don't think his actions warrant it.

In the end, though, this is just a fun, albeit predictable, movie with a pretty, straight-forward premise.  Dane vs Dax is enjoyable to watch, since both seem to buy into their characters completely. It works.