Plot summary (with possible spoilers): By day, Tank Turner (played by Dane Cook) is a phone operator at a customer service call center. By night, he’s a relationship “facilitator” who helps guys win back their girlfriends after being dumped. How does he do this? By taking the newly-single girl out on a date and acting like a complete, obnoxious jackass, thereby convincing the girl that her ex wasn’t so bad after all.
Tank seems to be pretty good at this second job, until he’s approached by roommate and cousin Dustin (Jason Biggs) to win back Alexis (Kate Hudson), a coworker that Dustin is madly in love with. The two dated for a short time, but Alexis sees Dustin more as a good friend than as a boyfriend, and decides that she should date other guys before giving Dustin another chance.
Tank doesn’t want to get involved, but Dustin persists, so he finally does take Alexis out. He tries to be as annoying as possible, but Alexis doesn’t seem to be bothered by anything he throws at her. In fact, she even realizes — in her one moment of clarity in an otherwise drunken evening — that Tank is doing these things on purpose.
Alexis calls Tank the next day to give him hell for the way he acted. But then she invites him over for a booty call, and they begin hooking up on a regular basis. All the while, Dustin is trying to stay on Alexis’s radar by bringing her coffee, flowers, and donuts at work. Of course, he’s clueless about what’s happening between Alexis and Tank.
The rest of the film then shows how Alexis and Tank’s relationship plays itself out. While it might have looked like Alexis and Dustin were supposed to be the main couple, as soon as Tank and Alexis started sleeping together, the tide turned and they became the couple destined to work out in the end. Are there any romantic comedies that aren’t predictable? I doubt it!
My Reaction: My Best Friend’s Girl wasn’t nearly as entertaining as I thought it would be. Dane Cook just looks so gross and is not at all the right kind of leading man for a rom-com. I can’t believe the casting decision on that one. He was perfect for the disgusting, obnoxious date that makes women long for their ex-boyfriends, but seemed too scummy for Kate Hudson’s character. Not that she was any great shakes either, but still….
And what’s with Kate Hudson, anyway? Is she just going to do these silly romantic comedies for the rest of her career? I thought she was terrific in Almost Famous, but she has made a lot of questionable choices since then. I’m almost at the point where I’m going to avoid her movies altogether, since they’re practically all the same.
I think a better film here would have been to follow the Tank character in his role as relationship facilitator. That would have been funnier than having him fall in love with Alexis and have the movie go through the predictable plot motions. Oh, well.
Overall, My Best Friend’s Girl failed to impress on any level. There were just a couple of funny scenes, but nothing memorable and certainly nothing I would recommend to others. I give it 1 star out of 5.