My Best Friend’s Girl

Stand-up comic Dane Cook plays a lout named Tank, a notorious underachiever who earns extra money as a professional rebound—someone who dates newly single girls and convinces them by virtue of his obnoxious behavior that their ex-boyfriends (who are paying Tank) weren’t so bad after all. His best friend Dustin (Jason Biggs), having trouble “closing the deal” with bubbly Alexis (Kate Hudson), asks the womanizer to work his magic on her. But when she finds the bad boy more fascinating than Dustin, Tank succumbs to her charms and risks breaking his best pal’s heart. Not surprisingly, this premise lends itself to situations calling for coarse language and vulgar behavior, in which My Best Friend’s Girl fairly wallows. Cook handles it fine, but such sleazy stuff isn’t a good fit for Hudson, whose pleasing on-screen persona derives from her appearances in conventional, inoffensive romantic comedies. Director Howard Deutch (Pretty in Pink) tries his best to make the characters seem likeable and believable.

Shelf Talk: My Best Friend’s Girl is the latest entry in Cook’s growing resume of tepid theatrical fare, a streak that began with Employee of the Month and continued with Good Luck Chuck. Though the stand-up comic’s popularity hasn’t carried over to theatrical venues, it does click for home viewers. Hudson’s presence also will help the picture, whose major constituency is the 18-35 market.