October 23, 2008

Reviewed by Richard Lee Zuras

Released 9/19/08

1hr. 47 min.

R

Howard Deutch/Lions Gate

Dane Cook

Kate Hudson

Jason Biggs

Alec Baldwin

Here’s why I’m intrigued by Dane Cook movies:

1.) No one can overcome a bad screenplay

2.) Dane Cook picks bad screenplays and tries to overcome them

Think of the last three Dane Cook vehicles. Employee of the Month. Good Luck Chuck. My Best Friend’s Girl. Now compare those three films with his other two recent films– films in which he was not the lead. Mr. Brooks. Dan in Real Life. Two things are different here…

One. Dane Cook is not, as of now, a leading man. Dane is a comedian, and a comedian best enjoyed in small doses. Witness his best moments on stage or even in the often hilarious “Crank Yankers” and you can see his appeal. Place him in a film, like My Best Friend’s Girl, and you simply get too much of a good thing. Dane is not the only comedian to struggle with this issue. Anyone who has seen Robin Williams’ RV or Man of the Year knows that comedians struggle to find the right balance when improvising on film.

Two. Bad screenplays make bad films. Dan in Real Life was a great film (even if under-appreciated) not simply because Dane Cook was in the background, but because it was written by a real-life screenwriter named Peter Hedges (What’s Eating Gilbert Grape?, About A Boy).

My Best Friend’s Girl was written by first-timer Jordan Cahan. Rumor has it that director Howard Deutch (Pretty in Pink, Some Kind of Wonderful) asked Dane and his cohorts to improvise– and improvise they did. The screenplay is, in fact, little more than a pastiche of the romantic comedy genre. It is so blatant that references to When Harry Met Sally, Nora Ephron, the “meet-cute,” and “rom-coms” are made every fifteen minutes. Absent a writer with anything original to say, we are left with Dane Cook working on the fly. The result is banal, and insulting.

The problem is that it is insulting in the wrong way. Cook is in so far over his head, as are Cahan and Deutch, that his potty-mouthed flailings are insulting to anyone who spent their time and money on this film. The people running the craft service table probably felt insulted. Yes, it is that bad. Howard Deutch, who has been languishing in TV, video, and sequel limbo, truly should have known better than to let a 45 million dollar movie rest on Dane Cook’s stand-up laurels.

Other folks are at fault as well. Alec Baldwin is bordering on the edge of becoming a caricature. Here, he is again cast in the role of a lech, only to be outdone by the casting of Jason Biggs in the role of, once again, the quirky, do-goody American Pie character he’s been vamping since 1999. And what has become of the promise once held by Kate Hudson? Is this not the same Oscar nominated actress from Almost Famous?

Everyone involved in My Best Friend’s Girl deserves better. Especially the moviegoer.

Bottom Line: 2.0/5.0