Jump to content

Good Luck Chuck: Difference between revisions

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Browse history interactively
← Previous edit
Content deleted Content added
VisualWikitext
SporkBot (talk | contribs)
Bots
1,245,011 edits
m Remove template per TFD outcome
 
(126 intermediate revisions by 75 users not shown)
Line 1: Line 1:
{{Short description|2007 film by Mark Helfrich}}
{{For|the [[sitcom]] originally broadcast on the [[Disney Channel]] from 2010 to 2014|Good Luck Charlie}}
{{For|the [[sitcom]] originally broadcast on the [[Disney Channel]] from 2010 to 2014|Good Luck Charlie}}
{{Infobox film
{{Infobox film
| name = Good Luck Chuck
| name = Good Luck Chuck
| image = Good luck chuck ver4.jpg
| image = Good luck chuck ver4.jpg
| image_size = 215px
| alt =
| alt =
| caption = Theatrical release poster
| caption = Theatrical release poster
Line 9: Line 9:
| producer = Mike Karz
| producer = Mike Karz
| writer = [[Josh Stolberg]]
| writer = [[Josh Stolberg]]
| starring = {{Plain list |
| starring = [[Dane Cook]]<br />[[Jessica Alba]]<br />[[Dan Fogler]]<br />[[Chelan Simmons]]
⚫
* [[Dane Cook]]
* [[Jessica Alba]]
* [[Dan Fogler]]
}}
| music = [[Aaron Zigman]]
| music = [[Aaron Zigman]]
| cinematography = [[Anthony B. Richmond]]
| cinematography = [[Anthony B. Richmond]]
| editing = [[Julia Wong (film editor)|Julia Wong]]
| editing = [[Julia Wong (film editor)|Julia Wong]]
| studio = Karz Entertainment
| studio = Karz Entertainment
| distributor = [[Lionsgate]]
| distributor = [[Lionsgate Films|Lionsgate]]
| released = {{Film date|2007|9|21}}
| released = {{Film date|2007|9|21}}
| runtime = 99 minutes<br />101 minutes {{small|(unrated cut)}}
| runtime = 99 minutes<br />101 minutes {{small|(unrated cut)}}
| country = United States<ref name="BFI">{{cite web|url=https://www2.bfi.org.uk/films-tv-people/4ce2b8c53ee2d|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190516183856/http://www.bfi.org.uk/films-tv-people/4ce2b8c53ee2d|url-status=dead|archive-date=May 16, 2019|title=Good Luck Chuck|year=2007|publisher=British Film Institute|access-date=February 28, 2022}}</ref><br />Canada<ref name="BFI"/>
| country = United States
| language = English
| language = English
| budget = $25 million<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.the-numbers.com/movies/2007/GLUCH.php|title=Good Luck Chuck Box Office Data|work=The Numbers|publisher=Nash Information Services|accessdate=October 8, 2011}}</ref>
| budget = $25 million<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.the-numbers.com/movies/2007/GLUCH.php|title=Good Luck Chuck Box Office Data|work=The Numbers|publisher=Nash Information Services|access-date=October 8, 2011|archive-date=December 16, 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131216044704/http://www.the-numbers.com/movies/2007/GLUCH.php|url-status=live}}</ref>
| gross = $59.2 million<ref name=mojo/>
| gross = $59.8 million<ref name=mojo/>
}}
}}
'''''Good Luck Chuck''''' is a 2007 American [[Romance film|romantic]] [[comedy film]] starring [[Dane Cook]] and [[Jessica Alba]]. In the film, women find their "one true love" after [[having sex]] with a dentist named Chuck (Cook). Chuck meets a girl named Cam (Alba) and tries to become her true love. The film opened in theaters on September 21, 2007, and was heavily panned by [[film critics|critics]]. One of ''Good Luck Chuck''{{'}}s theatrical posters parodied the well-known ''[[Rolling Stone]]'' cover photographed by [[Annie Leibovitz]] featuring [[John Lennon]] and [[Yoko Ono]] in similar poses.
'''''Good Luck Chuck''''' is a 2007 [[romantic comedy]] film directed by [[Mark Helfrich (film editor)|Mark Helfrich]], written by [[Josh Stolberg]], and starring [[Dane Cook]] and [[Jessica Alba]]. In the film, women find their "one true love" after having sex with a dentist named Chuck (Cook). Chuck meets a girl named Cam (Alba) and tries to become her true love.
''Good Luck Chuck'' was the directorial debut of Helfrich, a long-time [[film editor]]. It was released in theaters on September 21, 2007, by [[Lionsgate]], and was panned by [[film critics|critics]]. One of its theatrical posters parodied the well-known ''[[Rolling Stone]]'' cover photographed by [[Annie Leibovitz]] featuring [[John Lennon]] and [[Yoko Ono]] in similar poses.


==Plot==
==Plot==
<!-- Per WP:FILMPLOT, plot summary should be between 400 to 700 words. -->
While playing [[seven minutes in heaven]] at a party in 1985, 10-year-old Charles "Chuck" Logan ([[Connor Price]]) refuses to kiss a [[Goth subculture|goth]] girl named Anisha ([[Sasha Pieterse]]) who attempts to have sex with him. In retaliation, Anisha places a [[curse]] on Chuck, so that every single [[woman]] he sleeps with will break up with him and marry the next man who asks her out.
While playing [[spin the bottle]] / [[seven minutes in heaven]] at a party in 1985, 10-year-old Charlie "Chuck" Logan refuses the sexual advances of a [[Goth subculture|goth]] girl named Anisha Carpenter. In retaliation, she places a [[curse|hex]] on him, saying that once a girl has been with him, "to the next, she will be true".


At present, Chuck is a successful [[dentist]], running a practice in the office opposite his best friend Stu's plastic surgery business. While being sexually intimate with his girlfriend Carol, Chuck cannot reply that he loves her too, prompting her to immediately break up with him.
In the present, Chuck ([[Dane Cook]]) is a successful [[dentist]] in his thirties, and runs a dental practice in the same building as his best friend Stu's ([[Dan Fogler]]) plastic surgery business. Chuck finds himself unable to tell his girlfriend, Carol ([[Chelan Simmons]]), that he loves her, and she breaks up with him while having sex on the beach. Following the break up, Stu and Chuck decide to attend the wedding of one of Chuck’s ex-girlfriends, Katie. At Katie’s wedding, Chuck becomes enamored with Cam Wexler ([[Jessica Alba]]), a clumsy, yet attractive and friendly marine biologist. Their chemistry is apparent the moment they start talking. The wedding eventually ends, and they seemingly go their separate ways. While working at a penguin habitat, Cam accidentally slips and chips her tooth. When she visits Chuck to have it fixed, he asks her to go out with him instead of paying him. Though initially reluctant, Cam agrees. Meanwhile, Stu notices the pattern of girls getting married as soon as Chuck has sex with them. Stu eventually convinces Chuck to embrace the influx of women who have learned of his pattern and visit his practice, arguing that there's nothing better than having lots of guilt-free sex. However, after having this so-called "guilt-free sex" with numerous women, Chuck decides he wants a serious relationship with Cam. However, just before he has sex with her, Stu informs him that each of the women Chuck has slept with have got married, including Carol. Worried that the same thing will happen to Cam, Chuck begins to avoid her.


Stu and Chuck attend the wedding of one of Chuck's ex-girlfriends, Katie. During the reception, she toasts Chuck for being her lucky charm, which gains the interest of his female tablemates. He becomes enamored with Cam Wexler, an unusually clumsy, yet attractive and friendly penguin scientist working at a [[marine mammal park]].
Stu convinces Chuck to test the curse by having sex with an obese woman, and see if she marries afterward. Chuck asks Stu to ask the woman out to see if this results in marriage, and when it does not, Chuck concludes that the curse is fake, and has sex with Cam. Afterward, however, Chuck discovers that the woman Stu was supposed to ask out got married to another man. Chuck calls Stu, who confesses that he only pretended to ask the woman. Chuck gets mad because of Stu's treason but Stu doesn't care about the complaints. Chuck believes Cam wants to go out with Howard Blaine ([[Steve Bacic]]), who authored a book about penguins. Still convinced that Cam will hang out with him, Chuck tries desperately to get Cam's attention and asks her to marry him. His attempts, though, cause Cam to become convinced he's [[stalking]] her and she breaks up with him. After the break-up, Chuck attempts to track down Anisha in order to break the curse. Now married with a child, Anisha reveals to Chuck that they were just kids back then, and the curse wasn't meant to be real.


The next day, Chuck's office is full of women. He asks Stu if anything's different about him; they also find that Carol is engaged thanks to Chuck being a lucky charm. His date that evening wants to have sex with him because of the charm, but he gets an emergency call from Cam, who chipped her tooth in a work accident at the penguin exhibit.
Now deciding to let fate take its course, Chuck puts Cam in touch with Howard, and the two seem to connect instantly. Stu convinces Chuck to chase after Cam, who is now headed to [[Antarctica]] with Howard. After Chuck finds her, Cam reveals that Howard is already married to someone else, and that she's only leaving for a week. Chuck hands Cam a ring box containing a pebble, a reference to the penguin mating ritual in which a male penguin finds a stone and brings it to the female penguin he wants to be with (therefore, [[Marriage proposal|proposing]] to her). Meanwhile, Anisha is shown pulling a pin out of a [[Haitian Vodou|voodoo]] doll, which signifies that Chuck is freed from the curse and has finally gotten the girl of his dreams. A year later, Chuck and Cam are in Antarctica together surrounded by penguins.


Chuck fixes her tooth, but instead of accepting monetary payment, he asks her out for dinner, but Cam declines as she is not emotionally ready. He returns home to find his receptionist Reba coming onto him hoping he will be her lucky charm.
Later, Stu is shown with his now wife house-sitting for Chuck and Cam who are now married as well. They search for home-made sex tapes, and find a disturbing tape where Chuck is giving oral to a plush penguin while Cam is off-screen making sex sounds, implying that they might have made the tape and left it for Stu to find as a gag.

Stu encourages Chuck to indulge in more "guilt-free sex", and he does so. However, he still has feelings for Cam and asks her out. Their relationship deepens, but when Stu calls him and tells him that every single woman Chuck had slept with has gotten married, Chuck gets cold feet and leaves.

Stu and Chuck test the curse on the ugly, morbidly obese Eleanor. Observing that she is not seeing anyone, Chuck has sex with her and then makes Stu ask her out. Meanwhile, Chuck pretends to be sick, so maintains a distant relationship with Cam by phone and computer video. After Stu confirms he did it, yet Eleanor hasn't fallen for him, Chuck rushes to Cam's place and they have sex.

The next morning, when Chuck sees Eleanor on TV happily kissing another man, he angrily calls Stu, who admits he only pretended to ask her out. Worried that Cam will now find her true love, he smothers her in increasingly annoying ways, until she eventually dumps him.

While talking with Reba, Chuck sees a bottle spinning on the ground, which reminds him of the hex from his childhood. So, he and Stu locate Anisha's home. Chuck asks Anisha to remove the curse, but she insists that it is not truly real and that her love back then was just a childhood crush. Anisha encourages him to let go of the girl he is interested in if he truly loves her.

Chuck arranges for Cam to meet Howard Blaine, the penguin expert and author she admires. Later, Stu and his new [[Accessory breast|three-breasted]] fiancée Lara tell him that Cam is heading to [[Antarctica]] with Howard. Chuck catches her on the plane and pleads with her not to go, but Cam explains that she will be back on Wednesday and is going with both Howard and his wife.

Chuck leaves Cam with a ring box with a pebble, a reference to a previous discussion about what penguins do to court a lifetime mate. She calls him back and they kiss. Meanwhile, Anisha pulls out her old childhood [[occult]] [[keepsake box]], and removes a pin from the [[voodoo doll]] of Chuck. A year later, Chuck and Cam are in Antarctica together looking at the [[southern lights]] while surrounded by penguins.

During the closing credits, the [[housesitting]] Stu and Lara find a [[sex tape]] involving Chuck, Cam, and a stuffed penguin.


==Cast==
==Cast==
<!-- closing title cards for primary bullets -->
⚫
* [[Dane Cook]] as Dr. Charles Logan
** [[Connor Price]] as young Charles Logan
* [[Dane Cook]] as Dr. Charlie "Chuck" Logan
* [[Jessica Alba]] as Cam Wexler
** [[Connor Price]] as Young Charlie
* [[Dan Fogler]] as Dr. Stuart Klaminsky
* [[Jessica Alba]] as Camilla "Cam" Wexler
** [[Troy Gentile]] as young Stuart Klaminsky
* [[Dan Fogler]] as Dr. Stuart "Stu" Klaminsky
* [[Chelan Simmons]] as Carol
** [[Troy Gentile]] as Young Stu
* [[Lonny Ross]] as Joe Wexler
* [[Ellia English]] as Reba
* [[Ellia English]] as Reba
⚫
* [[Sasha Pieterse]] as Young Anisha Carpenter (credited as Goth Girl)
⚫
** [[Michelle Harrison (actress)|Michelle Harrison]] as Anisha Carpenter
* [[Lonny Ross]] as Joe Wexler, Cam's stoner brother who works with her at the marine mammal park
* [[Chelan Simmons]] as Carol
<!-- end closing title cards -->
<!-- listed in detailed cast in closing credits, but not all actors/roles
* [[Annie Wood]] as Lara
* [[Annie Wood]] as Lara
* Jodie Stewart as Eleanor Skepple
* Jodie Stewart as Eleanor Skepple
⚫
* Michelle Harrison as Anisha Carpenter
⚫
** [[Sasha Pieterse]] as young Anisha Carpenter
* [[Jodelle Ferland|Jodelle Micah Ferland]] as Lila Carpenter
* [[Jodelle Ferland|Jodelle Micah Ferland]] as Lila Carpenter
* Lindsay Maxwell as McTitty
* Lindsay Maxwell as McTitty
* [[Crystal Lowe]] as Cam's Wedding friend
* [[Crystal Lowe]] as Cam's Wedding friend
* [[Steve Bacic]] as Howard Blaine
* [[Steve Bacic]] as Howard Blaine
-->


==Reception==
==Reception==
The film was panned by critics. According to [[Rotten Tomatoes]], only 5% of critics gave the film positive reviews, based on 114 reviews. The film was slightly better received by audiences, who gave it a 57% 'rotten' rating.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/good_luck_chuck/ |title=Good Luck Chuck |accessdate=23 September 2007 |publisher=[[Rotten Tomatoes]]}}</ref> On [[Metacritic]], the film had an average score of 19 out of 100, based on 23 reviews, indicating "overwhelming dislike".<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.metacritic.com/film/titles/goodluckchuck |title=Good Luck Chuck (2007): Reviews |accessdate=23 September 2007 |publisher=[[Metacritic]]}}</ref>
''Good Luck Chuck'' was panned by critics. According to [[Rotten Tomatoes]], only 5% of critics gave the film positive reviews, based on 114 reviews. The site's consensus states: "A shortage of laughs and an undercurrent of mean-spiritedness undermine ''Good Luck Chuck'', squandering a decent premise on gross-out humor and shopworn slapstick."<ref>{{cite web |url= http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/good_luck_chuck/ |title= Good Luck Chuck |publisher= [[Fandango Media]] |website= [[Rotten Tomatoes]] |access-date= December 15, 2018 |archive-date= March 15, 2024 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20240315090342/https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/good_luck_chuck |url-status= live }}</ref> On [[Metacritic]], the film had an average score of 19 out of 100, based on 23 reviews, indicating "overwhelming dislike".<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.metacritic.com/film/titles/goodluckchuck |title=Good Luck Chuck (2007): Reviews |publisher=[[CBS]] |website=[[Metacritic]] |access-date=December 15, 2018 |archive-date=July 14, 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100714175336/http://www.metacritic.com/film/titles/goodluckchuck? |url-status=live }}</ref>


[[Roger Ebert]] awarded the film 1 out of 4 stars, branding it "potty-mouthed and brain-damaged", whilst his reviewing partner, [[Richard Roeper]] also rated it poorly.<ref>{{cite news| url=http://rogerebert.suntimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070920/REVIEWS/709200301 | work=Chicago Sun-Times | title=Good Luck Chuck | date=20 September 2007}}</ref><ref>{{cite news| url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/12/28/AR2007122802726_pf.html | work=The Washington Post | title=Snarky Snippets From 2007 Movie Reviews | accessdate=3 May 2010}}</ref>
[[Roger Ebert]] awarded the film 1 out of 4 stars, branding it "potty-mouthed and brain-damaged", whilst his reviewing partner, [[Richard Roeper]] also rated it poorly.<ref>{{cite news | date=20 September 2007 | author=Roger Ebert | author-link=Roger Ebert | url=https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/good-luck-chuck-2007 | work=Chicago Sun-Times | title=Good Luck Chuck | access-date=16 October 2007 | archive-date=2 May 2013 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130502002655/http://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/good-luck-chuck-2007 | url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite news | date= December 29, 2007 | url= https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/12/28/AR2007122802726_pf.html | newspaper= [[The Washington Post]] | title= Snarky Snippets From 2007 Movie Reviews | access-date= 3 May 2010 | archive-date= 4 November 2012 | archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20121104170608/http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/12/28/AR2007122802726_pf.html | url-status= live }}</ref>

British film critic [[Mark Kermode]] named it the worst film of 2007.<ref>{{cite web|url = https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q1yfcadRnN8&ab_channel=badhead|title = Best and Worst of 2007 Kermode|website = [[YouTube]]| date=September 2010 |access-date = 16 May 2023|archive-date = 16 May 2023|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20230516202411/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q1yfcadRnN8&ab_channel=badhead|url-status = live}}</ref>


===Box office===
===Box office===
The film was the second-highest-grossing film at the U.S. box office in its opening weekend, grossing $13.6 million in 2,612 theaters.<ref name=mojo>{{cite web|url=http://www.boxofficemojo.com/movies/?page=weekend&id=goodluckchuck.htm |title=Good Luck Chuck (2007) – Weekend Box Office |accessdate=10 August 2011 |publisher=[[Box Office Mojo]]}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/20945226/ |title=‘Resident Evil’ proves zombies rule box office |accessdate=25 September 2007 |date=23 September 2007 |publisher=[[Associated Press]] via [[MSNBC]]}}</ref> The film went on to have a total box office tally of approximately $35 million U.S. and $24 million foreign. In the present time movie has received mixed reviews, on IMDB it has 5.6 rating.
The film was the second-highest-grossing film at the U.S. box office in its opening weekend, grossing $13.6 million in 2,612 theaters.<ref name=mojo>{{cite web |url=http://www.boxofficemojo.com/movies/?page=weekend&id=goodluckchuck.htm |title=Good Luck Chuck (2007) – Weekend Box Office |access-date=10 August 2011 |publisher=[[Box Office Mojo]] |archive-date=7 September 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180907032249/https://www.boxofficemojo.com/movies/?page=weekend&id=goodluckchuck.htm |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.today.com/popculture/resident-evil-proves-zombies-rule-box-office-wbna20945226 |title='Resident Evil' proves zombies rule box office |access-date=25 September 2007 |date=23 September 2007 |publisher=[[Associated Press]] via [[Today.com]] |archive-date=27 October 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211027102305/https://www.today.com/popculture/resident-evil-proves-zombies-rule-box-office-wbna20945226 |url-status=live }}</ref> The film went on to have a total box office tally of approximately $35 million U.S. and $24 million foreign.


===Accolades===
===Accolades===
The film earned two [[Razzie Award]] nominations including Worst Actress ([[Jessica Alba]]) and Worst Screen Couple (Alba and [[Dane Cook]]), but lost to [[Lindsay Lohan]] for ''[[I Know Who Killed Me]]''.
The film earned two [[Razzie Award]] nominations including Worst Actress ([[Jessica Alba]]) and Worst Screen Couple (Alba and [[Dane Cook]]), but lost to [[Lindsay Lohan]] for ''[[I Know Who Killed Me]]''.<ref name="razzies" />

{| class="wikitable"
{| class="wikitable sortable plainrowheaders"
|-
|-
!Award
! Award
!Category
! Category
!Nominee
! Nominee
!Result
! Result
|-
|-
| rowspan="2"| [[28th Golden Raspberry Awards|Golden Raspberry Awards]]<ref name="razzies">{{cite web |url=http://www.razzies.com/history/07release.asp |title=Golden Raspberry Award Foundation |website=www.razzies.com |access-date=15 January 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120210014824/http://www.razzies.com/history/07release.asp |archive-date=10 February 2012 |url-status=dead}}</ref>
| rowspan="2"| [[28th Golden Raspberry Awards|Golden Raspberry Awards]]
| [[Golden Raspberry Award for Worst Actress|Worst Actress]]
| [[Golden Raspberry Award for Worst Actress|Worst Actress]]
| [[Jessica Alba]]
| [[Jessica Alba]]
Line 81: Line 109:


==Production==
==Production==
''Good Luck Chuck'' was filmed from late-September to mid-November 2006. The film was shot in Vancouver, British Columbia and also partly in [[Edmonton, Alberta]], using the [[Alberta Film Studio]] for the aquarium scenes and the neighborhood of [[Old Strathcona]] for exterior shots.<ref>http://www.filmalberta.com/facility-2</ref>
''Good Luck Chuck'' was filmed from late September to mid-November 2006. The film was shot in Vancouver, British Columbia, and also partly in [[Edmonton, Alberta]], using the [[Alberta Film Studio]] for the aquarium scenes and the neighborhood of [[Old Strathcona]] for exterior shots.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.filmalberta.com/facility-2|title=Film Alberta Studios|access-date=2015-02-27|archive-date=2015-02-24|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150224153715/http://filmalberta.com/facility-2|url-status=dead}}</ref>


==Soundtrack==
==Soundtrack==
Line 96: Line 124:
# "[[You Might Think]]" ([[The Cars]])
# "[[You Might Think]]" ([[The Cars]])
# "[[Physical (Olivia Newton-John song)|Physical]]" ([[Olivia Newton-John]])
# "[[Physical (Olivia Newton-John song)|Physical]]" ([[Olivia Newton-John]])
# "[[Bela Lugosi's Dead]]" ([[Bauhaus]])
# "[[Bela Lugosi's Dead]]" ([[Bauhaus (band)|Bauhaus]])
# "Crazy in Love" (Antique Gold)
# "Crazy in Love" (Antique Gold)


Line 105: Line 133:
* {{official website|http://www.goodluckchuckthemovie.com/}}
* {{official website|http://www.goodluckchuckthemovie.com/}}
* {{IMDb title|0452625}}
* {{IMDb title|0452625}}
* {{Amg movie|352910}}
* {{mojo title|goodluckchuck}}
* {{mojo title|goodluckchuck}}
* {{Rotten-tomatoes|good_luck_chuck}}
* {{Rotten-tomatoes|good_luck_chuck}}
* {{metacritic film|good-luck-chuck}}
* {{Metacritic film}}


[[Category:2007 films]]
[[Category:2000s American films]]
[[Category:2000s romantic comedy films]]
[[Category:2000s Canadian films]]
⚫
[[Category:2000s English-language films]]
[[Category:2000s sex comedy films]]
[[Category:2000s sex comedy films]]
[[Category:American films]]
[[Category:2007 directorial debut films]]
[[Category:2007 films]]
[[Category:2007 romantic comedy films]]
[[Category:American romantic comedy films]]
[[Category:American romantic comedy films]]
[[Category:American sex comedy films]]
[[Category:American sex comedy films]]
⚫
[[Category:Canadian films]]
[[Category:Canadian romantic comedy films]]
[[Category:Canadian romantic comedy films]]
[[Category:Canadian sex comedy films]]
[[Category:Canadian sex comedy films]]
[[Category:Casual sex in films]]
[[Category:English-language Canadian films]]
[[Category:Directorial debut films]]
[[Category:Films about casual sex]]
[[Category:English-language films]]
[[Category:Films about curses]]
[[Category:Films about dentistry]]
[[Category:Films about dentistry]]
[[Category:Films about witchcraft]]
[[Category:Films scored by Aaron Zigman]]
[[Category:Films set in 1985]]
[[Category:Films set in 1985]]
[[Category:Films shot in Edmonton]]
[[Category:Films shot in Edmonton]]
[[Category:Films shot in Vancouver]]
[[Category:Films shot in Vancouver]]
[[Category:Lions Gate Entertainment films]]
[[Category:Films with screenplays by Josh Stolberg]]
[[Category:Lionsgate films]]
[[Category:English-language sex comedy films]]
[[Category:English-language romantic comedy films]]

Latest revision as of 22:26, 21 December 2024

For the sitcom originally broadcast on the Disney Channel from 2010 to 2014, see Good Luck Charlie.
Good Luck Chuck
Theatrical release poster
Directed byMark Helfrich
Written byJosh Stolberg
Produced byMike Karz
Starring
CinematographyAnthony B. Richmond
Edited byJulia Wong
Music byAaron Zigman
Production
company
Karz Entertainment
Distributed byLionsgate
Release date
  • September 21, 2007 (2007-09-21)
Running time
99 minutes
101 minutes (unrated cut)
CountriesUnited States[1]
Canada[1]
LanguageEnglish
Budget$25 million[2]
Box office$59.8 million[3]

Good Luck Chuck is a 2007 romantic comedy film directed by Mark Helfrich, written by Josh Stolberg, and starring Dane Cook and Jessica Alba. In the film, women find their "one true love" after having sex with a dentist named Chuck (Cook). Chuck meets a girl named Cam (Alba) and tries to become her true love.

Good Luck Chuck was the directorial debut of Helfrich, a long-time film editor. It was released in theaters on September 21, 2007, by Lionsgate, and was panned by critics. One of its theatrical posters parodied the well-known Rolling Stone cover photographed by Annie Leibovitz featuring John Lennon and Yoko Ono in similar poses.

Plot

[edit]

While playing spin the bottle / seven minutes in heaven at a party in 1985, 10-year-old Charlie "Chuck" Logan refuses the sexual advances of a goth girl named Anisha Carpenter. In retaliation, she places a hex on him, saying that once a girl has been with him, "to the next, she will be true".

At present, Chuck is a successful dentist, running a practice in the office opposite his best friend Stu's plastic surgery business. While being sexually intimate with his girlfriend Carol, Chuck cannot reply that he loves her too, prompting her to immediately break up with him.

Stu and Chuck attend the wedding of one of Chuck's ex-girlfriends, Katie. During the reception, she toasts Chuck for being her lucky charm, which gains the interest of his female tablemates. He becomes enamored with Cam Wexler, an unusually clumsy, yet attractive and friendly penguin scientist working at a marine mammal park.

The next day, Chuck's office is full of women. He asks Stu if anything's different about him; they also find that Carol is engaged thanks to Chuck being a lucky charm. His date that evening wants to have sex with him because of the charm, but he gets an emergency call from Cam, who chipped her tooth in a work accident at the penguin exhibit.

Chuck fixes her tooth, but instead of accepting monetary payment, he asks her out for dinner, but Cam declines as she is not emotionally ready. He returns home to find his receptionist Reba coming onto him hoping he will be her lucky charm.

Stu encourages Chuck to indulge in more "guilt-free sex", and he does so. However, he still has feelings for Cam and asks her out. Their relationship deepens, but when Stu calls him and tells him that every single woman Chuck had slept with has gotten married, Chuck gets cold feet and leaves.

Stu and Chuck test the curse on the ugly, morbidly obese Eleanor. Observing that she is not seeing anyone, Chuck has sex with her and then makes Stu ask her out. Meanwhile, Chuck pretends to be sick, so maintains a distant relationship with Cam by phone and computer video. After Stu confirms he did it, yet Eleanor hasn't fallen for him, Chuck rushes to Cam's place and they have sex.

The next morning, when Chuck sees Eleanor on TV happily kissing another man, he angrily calls Stu, who admits he only pretended to ask her out. Worried that Cam will now find her true love, he smothers her in increasingly annoying ways, until she eventually dumps him.

While talking with Reba, Chuck sees a bottle spinning on the ground, which reminds him of the hex from his childhood. So, he and Stu locate Anisha's home. Chuck asks Anisha to remove the curse, but she insists that it is not truly real and that her love back then was just a childhood crush. Anisha encourages him to let go of the girl he is interested in if he truly loves her.

Chuck arranges for Cam to meet Howard Blaine, the penguin expert and author she admires. Later, Stu and his new three-breasted fiancée Lara tell him that Cam is heading to Antarctica with Howard. Chuck catches her on the plane and pleads with her not to go, but Cam explains that she will be back on Wednesday and is going with both Howard and his wife.

Chuck leaves Cam with a ring box with a pebble, a reference to a previous discussion about what penguins do to court a lifetime mate. She calls him back and they kiss. Meanwhile, Anisha pulls out her old childhood occult keepsake box, and removes a pin from the voodoo doll of Chuck. A year later, Chuck and Cam are in Antarctica together looking at the southern lights while surrounded by penguins.

During the closing credits, the housesitting Stu and Lara find a sex tape involving Chuck, Cam, and a stuffed penguin.

Cast

[edit]

Reception

[edit]

Good Luck Chuck was panned by critics. According to Rotten Tomatoes, only 5% of critics gave the film positive reviews, based on 114 reviews. The site's consensus states: "A shortage of laughs and an undercurrent of mean-spiritedness undermine Good Luck Chuck, squandering a decent premise on gross-out humor and shopworn slapstick."[4] On Metacritic, the film had an average score of 19 out of 100, based on 23 reviews, indicating "overwhelming dislike".[5]

Roger Ebert awarded the film 1 out of 4 stars, branding it "potty-mouthed and brain-damaged", whilst his reviewing partner, Richard Roeper also rated it poorly.[6][7]

British film critic Mark Kermode named it the worst film of 2007.[8]

Box office

[edit]

The film was the second-highest-grossing film at the U.S. box office in its opening weekend, grossing $13.6 million in 2,612 theaters.[3][9] The film went on to have a total box office tally of approximately $35 million U.S. and $24 million foreign.

Accolades

[edit]

The film earned two Razzie Award nominations including Worst Actress (Jessica Alba) and Worst Screen Couple (Alba and Dane Cook), but lost to Lindsay Lohan for I Know Who Killed Me.[10]

Award Category Nominee Result
Golden Raspberry Awards[10] Worst Actress Jessica Alba Nominated
Worst Screen Combo Jessica Alba and Dane Cook

Production

[edit]

Good Luck Chuck was filmed from late September to mid-November 2006. The film was shot in Vancouver, British Columbia, and also partly in Edmonton, Alberta, using the Alberta Film Studio for the aquarium scenes and the neighborhood of Old Strathcona for exterior shots.[11]

Soundtrack

[edit]

The soundtrack was released on 18 September 2007.

  1. "I Was Zapped by the Lucky Super Rainbow" (Flaming Lips)
  2. "Accident Prone" (The Honorary Title)
  3. "Good Luck Chuck" (The Dandy Warhols)
  4. "Love It When You Call" – Cherrytree House Version (The Feeling)
  5. "Good Weekend" (Art Brut)
  6. "Hurry Up Let's Go" (Shout Out Louds)
  7. "Shut Me Out" (Aidan Hawken) – 2:49
  8. "You're Gonna Get It" (Sharon Jones & The Dap-Kings)
  9. "The Whistle Song" (Pepper)
  10. "You Might Think" (The Cars)
  11. "Physical" (Olivia Newton-John)
  12. "Bela Lugosi's Dead" (Bauhaus)
  13. "Crazy in Love" (Antique Gold)

References

[edit]
  1. ^ a b "Good Luck Chuck". British Film Institute. 2007. Archived from the original on May 16, 2019. Retrieved February 28, 2022.
  2. ^ "Good Luck Chuck Box Office Data". The Numbers. Nash Information Services. Archived from the original on December 16, 2013. Retrieved October 8, 2011.
  3. ^ a b "Good Luck Chuck (2007) – Weekend Box Office". Box Office Mojo. Archived from the original on 7 September 2018. Retrieved 10 August 2011.
  4. ^ "Good Luck Chuck". Rotten Tomatoes. Fandango Media. Archived from the original on March 15, 2024. Retrieved December 15, 2018.
  5. ^ "Good Luck Chuck (2007): Reviews". Metacritic. CBS. Archived from the original on July 14, 2010. Retrieved December 15, 2018.
  6. ^ Roger Ebert (20 September 2007). "Good Luck Chuck". Chicago Sun-Times. Archived from the original on 2 May 2013. Retrieved 16 October 2007.
  7. ^ "Snarky Snippets From 2007 Movie Reviews". The Washington Post. December 29, 2007. Archived from the original on 4 November 2012. Retrieved 3 May 2010.
  8. ^ "Best and Worst of 2007 Kermode". YouTube. September 2010. Archived from the original on 16 May 2023. Retrieved 16 May 2023.
  9. ^ "'Resident Evil' proves zombies rule box office". Associated Press via Today.com. 23 September 2007. Archived from the original on 27 October 2021. Retrieved 25 September 2007.
  10. ^ a b "Golden Raspberry Award Foundation". www.razzies.com. Archived from the original on 10 February 2012. Retrieved 15 January 2022.
  11. ^ "Film Alberta Studios". Archived from the original on 2015-02-24. Retrieved 2015-02-27.
[edit]
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/enwiki/w/index.php?title=Good_Luck_Chuck&oldid=1264412202"