Dane Cook in My Best Friend's Girl on DVD

Bonus Features Highlight Comedy in Howard Deutch Film

Mar 8, 2009

Kate Hudson and Jason Biggs add to the perverted fun in "My Best Friend's Girl," a raunchy sex comedy about the ultimate bad date.

Tank Turner (Dane Cook) is so practiced at being a jerk that other men hire him to give their ex-girlfriends the worst date of their life so they (the ex-boyfriends) will look great by comparison. He sees his job as showing these women how horrible, crude, insulting, and animalistic a man can really be. His behavior is so loathsome that any previous boyfriend – regardless of his faults or mistakes – seems like a prince after a date with Tank.

Tank Turner Learned From the Master

His father, an oversexed college professor (Alec Baldwin), modeled this disgusting behavior for his son. While it appears to be too late for Professor Turner, Tank still shows a few hints of humanity underneath his swine-like behavior. He discourages a man from cheating again on the woman Tank just tried to get back for him, cries when he watches the movie Ghost, and takes pity on one woman who gets hurt rather than angry at his behavior.

A practiced master at his craft, Tank runs into trouble when his long-time best buddy Dustin (Jason Biggs) asks him for help with his “angel” Alexis (Kate Hudson) who squashed his dreams by saying she just wants to be friends. However, when he meets Alexis, he finds that for the first time someone can see right through his game. In fact, she has some pretty crude moves of her own.

Overall, crudeness becomes the driving force for the characters and the recurring motif for the audience in this sex comedy written by Jordan Cahan and directed by Howard Deutch. Unfortunately the unrelenting raunch often derails the romance and humor. A little more subtlety and sweetness between bouts of crudeness would have made this film more enjoyable to watch, and ultimately more funny.

In addition to audio commentary with Jason Biggs, writer Jordan Cahan, and producer Greg Lessons – plus a separate audio commentary with director Howard Deutch – this DVD includes deleted and extended scenes and several featurettes.

In general, the deleted and extended scenes were not included in the final version for good reason: They don’t add anything to the story, aren’t particularly funny, and carry the crudeness to even greater extremes. The deleted and extended scenes include: “Rachel Reconsiders Josh,” “Tank’s Favorite Porn Titles,” “Masturbatory Aides,” “Strip Club Bathroom,” “Wedding Cake Taste Test,” “Forget About Alexis,” “The Man with No Eyebrows,” “My Son the Booty Call,” “Alexis Calls in Sick,” “Tank Was Born,” “Tank Prepares for the Prom,” “Wedding Night Blues,” “Reaching Out For Tank,” “Who Slashed My Tires?” and “Alexis and Tank in the Restaurant.”

The featurettes, however, provide an enjoyable addition to the DVD package. A short piece on Boston, where the film was shot, reveals that Cook’s hometown fully supported his return and accommodated the film crew. A tongue-in-cheek documentary about dating shares some of the actors’ views on love. Likewise, a mockumentary about prom date rituals offers some laughs. The final short feature describes Professor’s Turner’s A-Z system for rating women’s appearances – a piece that fully succeeds in its intension to be crass and offensive.

The copyright of the article Dane Cook in My Best Friend's Girl on DVD in Romantic Comedy Films is owned by Leslie C. Halpern. Permission to republish Dane Cook in My Best Friend's Girl on DVD in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.