|
|
Movie Review: My Best Friend's Girl
'Best Friend's Girl' raunchy, funny
By Brett Troxler
btroxler@wbrz.com
Web Producer
|
PLAY OFFICIAL TRAILER
out of 4 stars.
Breakup got you down? Willing to do anything to get your girl back? Well, call Tank, the relationship fixer, the guy who will give your love the worst date she’s ever had, sending her screaming back into your loving arms with 10 reasons why you were a better man than she ever imagined. This guy can do the impossible. After all, he sells air for a day job.
Standup comedian-turned-actor Dane Cook is Tank, the man who is oh so good at being bad. This turbo-jerk extraordinaire is facing the toughest job of his life, though, as his non-blood-related cousin and roommate Dustin has just been dumped by his co-worker, shortly after he dropped the L-word a little too early.
She tried to scare a man away in “How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days,” but this time Kate Hudson is the target. Hudson is Alexis, Dustin’s angel, a girl with marathon aspirations who stops running for a second only to realize how few guys she’s actually dated. Through some encouragement by her promiscuous roomie (Lizzy Caplan), she decides to play the field -- and take the training wheels off for her date with this new guy she meets: Tank.
Thus Tank meets his match. All his usual tricks and sure-fire turnoffs miss their mark. Alexis sees through his antics, and under her current way of thinking, even likes them. So -- uh-oh. Lifelong bachelor status be damned, Tank finds himself falling for Alexis, naturally straining his relationship with his best friend.
“My Best Friend’s Girl” pokes fun at its own romantic comedy nature and even alludes to one of the more popular contributions in the genre. But this is a romantic comedy that takes it to a whole other level. Like Tank, it’s extremely crude, foul-mouthed and borderline gross -- but not ashamed of it in the least.
Despite its flirtations with discontinuity and some battles with the dub machine, “My Best Friend’s Girl” mostly has a tight script that operates on a what-goes-around-comes-around philosophy that brings all the characters together when it counts. The film hangs on the coattails of Cook’s improvisational skills, the delivery of seemingly off-the-cuff one-liners, and some pretty good overall writing and gags. But be warned, the ride is flamboyant and foul, outrageous and raunchy -- almost to its detriment at points. This film not only earns its R-rating, it wears it on its sleeve like a badge of honor.
Cook flexed his acting muscle in 2007’s “Mr. Brooks” and manages to be a perfect centerpiece for this film. Hudson has had better performances, but is still a nice complement to Cook along with Biggs as the do-gooder, wannabe-Mr.-Right cousin and Alec Baldwin as Tank’s womanizing father.
The soundtrack here is also a plus. The familiar beats of The Cars’ hit pace the plot, and the Johnny Cash number, “When the Man Comes Around,” envelopes Cook’s silhouette as he saunters in during an excellent sequence just before it all hits the fan. The payoff is worth the price of admission -- if you can stand the dirty humor for 100-plus minutes.
