| “ | Look, this is the only way I can keep doing what I do and make sure my kids are protected. | „ |
| ~ Larry to Chuck |
Larry Valentine is a hero from the 2007 American comedy film I Now Pronounce You Chuck & Larry. He is a firefighter for the Fire Department of New York (FDNY). He saves his best friend's life at work when they were canvassing a burned out building to determine the cause of the fire. Also, he willingly puts himself in legal danger to ensure his children are protected in the unfortunate possibility that he dies on the job. He is portrayed by Kevin James.
Heroics[]
At the beginning of the film, Larry is revealed to be a firefighter who has not moved on from his deceased wife Paula. Larry's best friend and fellow firefighter is Chuck Levine, a classic ladies man. One day, Larry and Chuck are going through a burned out building as part of their jobs. Unfortunately, while Chuck is on the second story of the building the floor begins to collapse. Larry sees that Chuck is in trouble and attempts to catch Chuck before he inevitably falls through. Larry is successful and Chuck's fall is broken. Chuck is grateful to Larry at this point in the movie.
After that incident at work, Larry begins to think about what would happen to his children if he dies one day while responding to a fire. Larry doesn't want to marry a strange woman he doesn't trust with his kids. He sees an article in a newspaper about domestic partnership being legal in New York. He gets the idea to marry Chuck to be his kids' caretaker in the event Larry dies. Larry approaches Chuck with the plan and Chuck agrees to do it after some discussion. Larry and Chuck get married. However, due to the circumstances of their domestic partnership an investigator visits the couple to verify their marriage is not a scam. During the visit, there are signs that Larry and Chuck are not a real couple. The investigator doesn't let them know what he will report but in case his report hints of a scam another investigator will drop in periodically unannounced in the span of three to four months. After the visit, the couple hires a lawyer to help protect their domestic partnership from the state's crack down on fraudulent marriages.
Chuck moves in with Larry and his kids to make sure the marriage looks believable in case another fraud investigator makes a visit. As expected by the lawyer, the fraud investigator Clint Fitzer starts making visits to Larry and Chuck. Unfortunately, Clint sees that the domestic partnership is a scam because Chuck is spending an inordinate amount of time with their lawyer. In addition, tension erupts at the firehouse when their coworkers find out Larry and Chuck are a married couple in the newspaper. The movie climaxes when Larry and Chuck are called at a hearing where Clint Fitzer states his findings of the investigation. During the hearing, the scam and Larry's intentions are revealed. Everyone involved in the scam is sent to jail. However, the news of Larry and Chuck's marriage inspired a lot of goodwill before it was revealed to be a scam. These supporters rally for the couple to be freed from jail. The fraud committee decides to make a deal with the two. The charges will be reduced to misdemeanors aka no jail time in exchange for everyone in the firehouse to pose for a beefcake calendar where proceeds go towards helping the gay community.
Everyone agrees to do the calendar. Chuck and Larry are spokesman for gay rights. At the end of the film, Larry has moved on from Paula and Chuck decides to settle down with their lawyer.
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