CS Weekly Archive > Weekend Read > 09/21/07

Sex (and Screenwriting) Without Love

By peter clines

Good Luck Chuck

Screenplay by Josh Stolberg
Based off a short story by Steve Glenn

A few coincidences at the wedding of an ex-girlfriend convince dozens (and then hundreds) of women across the city that sleeping with Charlie (Dane Cook) means the next person they date will be their one true love. Now he's is getting more action than ever, but is scared to risk being with Cam (Jessica Alba), the one woman he's actually fallen for. Good Luck Chuck has a lot of nice, funny, and even honestly touching stuff going for it in its first half, which is a bit surprising for a film based around the premise that a straight man would turn down sex with a very willing Jessica Alba. Most of the characters are solid and their motivations work—Charlie is ethically torn about all this meaningless sex until his overweight secretary convinces him that some women just need a ray of hope, no matter how ridiculous it may sound. Alas, the screenplay by Josh Stolberg (Kids in America) never commits to itself and seems scared to step away from rom-com clichés and standards. The jokes get flatter, the situations more ridiculous, and the movie devolves into another two-dimensional, slapstick comedy. The third act just collapses under the bizarre caricatures the characters have become, as opposed to the realistic ones established in the film's beginning. Despite having a solid foundation and a great personality, Good Luck Chuck just never aspires to be more than a one-night stand.

Good Luck Chuck
Lions Gate Films
Rated R; 96 min.

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Peter Clines has had a lifelong love affair with the movies. He grew up in New England, where he studied English literature and education, and now lives and writes somewhere in Southern California. If anyone knows exactly where, he would appreciate a few hints.

Good Luck Chuck courtesy Lions Gate Films

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