There is a lot of overcompensation going on here. Adam Sandler plays Chuck Levine, a womanizing firefighter who agrees to become the domestic partner of fellow firefighter Larry Valentine (Kevin James) so that Larry doesn’t lose his pension. (Or something like that; I couldn’t quite follow the tortured logic). In order to make this palatable to his largely male, heterosexual fan base, Sandler serves up random cleavage, at least four Hooters waitresses and Jessica Biel as a shoehorned love interest. It’s all eye candy for the insecure. He also piles on the homophobic humor, knowing that he can pay his penance with a lesson-learning climax. And so the movie makes its way toward a cringe-worthy courtroom scene in which Chuck and Larry make an emotional plea for tolerance. It’s the funniest thing in the picture.
