Reviewed by Lee Griffiths
Stars Dane Cook, Kate Hudson, Alec Baldwin, Jason Biggs, Diora Baird,
Lizzy Caplan, Hilary Pingle, Riki Lindhome, Nate Torrence | Written by Jordan Cahan
UK certification 18 | UK RRP £17.99 | DVD Region 2 | Runtime 101 minutes | Directed by Howard Deutch
Once predicted as the next big thing after her terrific turn in Cameron Crowe’s Almost Famous, Kate Hudson has since become disposable fodder for the generic romantic comedy, trading in her talents for cheap laughs and cute and cuddly finales with the likes of How To Lose A Guy In 10 Days and Fool’s Gold. Indeed, her career downward spiral is very nearly as depressing as her latest DVD outing, My Best Friend’s Girl.
The film stars Dane Cook as Tank, a “professional asshole” who is hired by recently-dumped guys to play the rebound from hell. And it works. After one date with the repulsive, sexist and monstrous Tank, the girls go running back to their exes, believing that their old imperfect relationship has got to be better than what awaits them in the dating world. Unfortunately, things turn sour when Tank’s talents are employed by his best friend (Biggs), and the no-holds-barred predator finds himself falling head over heels for the target (Hudson, naturally).
Proudly wearing its cynicism on its sleeve and quickly establishing itself as somewhat of an anti-romantic comedy, My Best Friend’s Girl ends up as wishy-washy and as predictable as they come, awkwardly flitting between foul-mouthed spite and irksome sentimentality. This is Neil LaBute-lite; a wannabe in-your-face bundle of nastiness but lacking bite and balls, lazily shuffling toward a predictable climax due to a complete lack of imagination and originality.
While the performances are generally unspectacular, Cook’s misogynist with a heart of gold shtick remains the main draw, with Alec Baldwin’s chauvinist sex pest (complete with intricate A-Z rating system for the opposite sex) coming in a close second. Biggs once again delivers his sexually frustrated nebbish routine, and as for Hudson, she’s left with very little to sink her teeth into, adding yet another forgettable role to her dwindling résumé.
EXTRAS *** Audio commentary with Jason Biggs, writer Jordan Cahan and producer Greg Lessans, another audio commentary with director Howard Deutch, a "making it in beantown" featurette about Dane Cook and Boston, two featurettes with the cast talking about dating and the prom, a featurette on the film’s A-Z rating system, 15 deleted/extended scenes and a short make-up featurette.