Chunks of fun among the naughty parts

The summer of raunch slams to a close with "Good Luck Chuck," perhaps the most vulgar, bosomy, sex-obsessed, flatulence-loving gag fest masquerading as "adult" comedy since "Porky's II."

While MPAA advisory ratings are often too simplistic, this one pretty much nails it (see R rating in credit box above). The only change I'd suggest is putting "crude" in capital letters.

Kids will be dying to see this movie once word breaks out about some of the jokes. Don't let them. Even though it begins with a prologue sequence featuring a gang of 10-year-olds playing spin the bottle, the offhanded depictions of and references to sex, sex and sex are almost enough to send even a 30-year-old onto the celibacy wagon.

Not that it's entirely unfunny. "Good Luck Chuck" does have its share of laughs in various shapes and sizes. A lot of them spring from the interaction between hunky dentist Chuck (Dane Cook) and his stocky sidekick Stu (Tony Award-winner Dan Fogler), best friends since age 10 and clueless about how to find love in a world full of hot babes.

Chuck believes he's carrying a childhood curse to be a mere sex vessel in preparing women for their next partner, who will be their true soul mate. Somehow the secret of Chuck leaks onto the Internet, and the babes come abegging.

At the urging of Stu, lucky Chuck gives in to the debauchery, and life becomes constant Sodom and Gomorrah. That is, until he meets his own soul mate in hotsy-totsy Cam (Jessica Alba) and can't bear the thought of losing her to the curse.

It's all rather messy in lots of ways. Fortunately the appealing presence and physical comedy of Cook and Fogler fill a lot of holes that would otherwise just be dirty ditches.

"Good Luck Chuck" is no "Knocked Up" or "Superbad," which made much better use of R-rated raunch, but it's late-summer fun for folks who still want to laugh at stupid dirty jokes in spite of themselves.

Ted Fry: tedfry@hotmail.com