I NOW PRONOUNCE YOU CHUCK & LARRY — * 1/2 — Adam Sandler, Kevin James, Jessica Biel; rated PG-13 (vulgarity, violence, profanity, nudity, slurs, brief sex, brief drugs).

If the rumors can be believed, "I Now Pronounce You Chuck & Larry" was nearly released as an R-rated, 140-minute comedy. But cooler heads prevailed, and the film is now being released in a supposedly more audience-friendly 115-minute, PG-13 form.

But the loss of nearly 30 minutes of material isn't enough to salvage this lunkheaded Adam Sandler vehicle, which is apparently meant to be a cinematic "apology" for some perceived homophobic content in several of his earlier movies.

It's an insincere mea culpa, however, since "Chuck & Larry" still contains quite a bit of mean-spirited jabs at gay lifestyles, as well as the usual sexist, racist, vulgar and just plain unfunny humor we've come to expect from Sandler.

He stars as Chuck Levine, a New York City firefighter. It's a dangerous job — in fact, his best friend Larry Valentine (Kevin James) recently saved Chuck's life.

The grateful Chuck has promised to do anything to repay Larry, which he may soon regret. Widower Larry is being hassled about his job benefits and figures the easiest way to resolve the issue is to fake a gay relationship to receive domestic-partner benefits.

Chuck reluctantly agrees to the scheme, but then he and Larry have to move in together and get a quickie marriage in Canada in order to cover their tracks.

Perhaps the funniest thing about the movie is seeing how little chemistry there is between Sandler and Jessica Biel, who plays his love interest. (As strange as it sounds, Sandler has more chemistry with James.)

And as you'd expect, Sandler regulars David Spade, Nick Swardson, Nicholas Turturro, Steve Buscemi, Allen Covert and Peter Dante all turn up in supporting roles — as does Rob Schneider, as an especially embarrassing racially insensitive minister.

"I Now Pronounce You Chuck & Larry" is rated PG-13 for vulgar humor and language (references, suggestive slang, sex jokes and flatulence gags), violence (fiery mayhem, fisticuffs and slapstick pratfalls), scattered profanity, male nudity and nude art, slurs based on race and sexual preference, brief sexual contact and brief drug references. Running time: 115 minutes.

---

E-mail: jeff@desnews.com