Tagline: It’s funny what love can make you do.
Smart, beautiful and headstrong, Alexis is the girl of Dustin’s dreams. But after only five weeks of dating, the love-struck Dustin is coming on so strong that Alexis is forced to slow things down – permanently.
Devastated and desperate to get her back, Dustin turns to his best friend, Tank, the rebound specialist. A master at seducing – and offending – women, Tank gets hired by freshly dumped guys to take their ex-girlfriends out on the worst date of their lives – an experience so horrible it sends them running gratefully back to their beaus.
A master at seducing – and offending – women, Tank is a professional “My Best Friend’s Girl.” When guys get dumped, they hire Tank to take their ex-girlfriends out on the worst date of their lives – an experience so horrible it sends them running gratefully back to their beaus.
So when Tank’s best friend, Dustin, is dumped by his new girlfriend, Tank naturally offers to help out… and ends up meeting the challenge of a lifetime. Smart, beautiful and headstrong, Alexis is the first girl who knows how to call his bluff, and Tank soon finds himself torn between his loyalty to Dustin and his love for his best friend’s girl.
About the Production
At first glance, Tank and Alexis, the two romantic leads in Lionsgate’s “My Best Friend’s Girl”, seem like the furthest thing from a compatible couple, and most definitely not the stuff from which romantic comedies are traditionally made. Tank is a perennial bachelor who’s turned his talent for offending and manipulating women into a lucrative side job.
And Alexis, the ideal woman for any marriage-minded man, is tired of monogamous relationships and just wants casual sex. That true romance, and even love, would emerge from their unlikely pairing is the spiky charm that distinguishes “My Best Friend’s Girl” from the pack of romantic comedy lookalikes.
“Relationships are far from picture perfect in this movie,” says star Kate Hudson, who plays Alexis. “It’s never picture perfect. Everybody’s human. Everybody makes mistakes. This movie is willing to look at those messy things and allows you to laugh at them along the way.”
“The thing that’s unique about this movie is that neither of the lead characters even wants to fall in love,” adds co-star Dane Cook. “It’s not a traditional romantic comedy in any sense. But even though it has an edge, it’s filled with heart, too.”
Hudson readily admits that Alexis’ desire to play the field after years of monogamous relationships is not the typical starting point for a romantic comedy heroine. A successful lawyer, Alexis begins “My Best Friend’s Girl” by ending her relationship with obsessively overeager Dustin (American Pie’s Jason Biggs) and deciding to take advantage of her single status. “For the first time ever in a movie I end up being kind of like the guy,” says Hudson. “Alexis feels like she needs to get out there and be young and not so regimented, so she starts doing little booty calls and saying, `Yeah, I can do this. I can date like this.’”
While Tank seems like the ideal partner for commitment-free, casual sex, Alexis’ emotions come into play despite her best efforts to avoid them. Says Hudson, “When she meets Tank, he unleashes a side of her that she’s never experienced before. And of course, inevitably, she ends up enjoying it a lot.”
While Hudson has been able to flex her comedic muscles in past projects like “How to Lose A Guy in 10 Days” and “You, Me and Dupree”, “My Best Friend’s Girl” presented the actress with a refreshing opportunity: starring in an R-rated romantic comedy. “I finally got to swear and say and do certain things that most people say to each other in normal, everyday life,” says Hudson. “I got a little taste of what those `Sex and the City’ girls were up to for so long, which was fun.” She laughs. “I’ve never looked into a box of masturbatory aides on film before.”
One of Hudson’s favorite experiences during production was shooting a scene in which Tank brings Alexis to a strip club. Tank does so with the sole intention of offending her, but Alexis is too drunk to take offense and actually ends up enjoying herself. “That was a really funny moment,” admits Hudson. “I was excited to do that scene when I read it. I don’t think I’ve ever been drunk in a movie. It was great to be a little crazy and not care. There’s a lot of stuff I got to do in this that was fun that I haven’t done before. This really was a new kind of movie for me to do.
While “My Best Friend’s Girl” embraces the freedom that comes with an `R’ rating, the filmmakers consciously avoided gratuitous exploitation and exaggerated gross-out gags. Explains producer Josh Shader, “When you see Dustin and Tank together talking about pornography, or Amy and Alexis talking about masturbation, it’s real. It’s how friends talk. It was never intentional for us to try and push the limits. It was just about playing it real and having the audience recognize themselves in the characters.”
“I hope that people relate to this movie on an adult level in terms of the relationships because we really tried to make them ring true,” adds Hudson.
While he is widely known for his legendary, kinetic stand-up routines, Dane Cook has also proven himself a sturdy leading man in features, from the slacker superstore clerk in “Employee of the Month” to the cursed suitor in “Good Luck Chuck”. But for his next comedy, Cook was eager to find something that more accurately matched his comedic sensibility. “We wanted something with edge,” says producer Brian Volk-Weiss, who is also Cook’s manager. “Dane’s humor has a lot of edge and this script nailed it perfectly. As soon as I read it, I called Dane. When Dane read it, he immediately called me and said, `This is it. This is it.’”
A self-professed bachelor with no interest in love, Tank is, initially at least, not the sort of guy you would wish on anyone. Guys who’ve lost their girlfriends hire Tank to date their exes; and he ensures the experience is so awful that those girls run with newfound appreciation back to their old beaus. “Tank is in many ways as despicable a guy as you will ever meet,” says producer Greg Lessons. “Every awful quality in every guy out there, that’s Tank. But, at his core, he’s a romantic. What he actually does is bring people together. He would deny it. And the movie is essentially about the repressed romantic part of him busting out when it hits him.”
Says producer Josh Shader, “I think audiences are really going to enjoy getting to see Dane Cook be a character that really lets Dane be Dane. He finally gets to play a role where he gets to let it all out, both comedically and emotionally.”
“Look at what Dane does in his comedy routines,” says producer Adam Herz. “He’s fearless on stage and he’s fearless in front of the camera. Every time he dips into that well, the bucket comes up full of something.”
Cook confesses that he was excited by the prospect of playing someone as extreme as Tank. “That was really alluring, and something that I wanted to be able to play with,” says the comedian. “It’s fun being bad! Everybody likes a villain. Everybody likes the bad guy. But we also like when there’s a turn, and that’s what happens with Tank.”
Still, Tank’s contradictions posed a considerable challenge for Cook as an actor. Could he score laughs playing the depraved bachelor yet still earn the audience’s sympathy as Tank embarks on the rocky road to emotional maturity? Cook’s and Deutch’s answer was to play Tank’s struggle as authentically as possible. “This movie’s always been to me about one man’s journey to becoming a man,” explains director Howie Deutch. “It’s not all about telling jokes. It’s about being real and having the audience get invested in the character.”
“To play the character of Tank,” adds producer PersonNameDoug Johnson, “you have to have that confidence, that swagger, and be vulnerable and real. That’s what Dane captured. There’s a romantic and emotional quality in this movie that I think is going to take some people by surprise.”
Much of the charm of “My Best Friend’s Girl” stems from Alexis’ and Tank’s unlikely pairing, and the rare connection they find despite their differences. Unlike other women, Alexis is wise to Tank’s moves, which leaves him at first bewildered, then impressed, and finally, completely infatuated. “It’s an absolutely hysterical thing to watch the two of them bounce off each other,” says producer Barry Katz. “And also personally, off camera, Kate and Dane got along great. They’re very cool together and it was just a lot of fun to be around both of them.”
Hudson was impressed with Cook’s energy and commitment to his acting. She explains, “Dane really cares about what he does. He focuses on his performance and really wants it to be good. And that’s an amazing quality to work with and to see in someone.”
“Working with Kate was a breath of fresh air,” avows Cook. “When it comes to an actor who really listens, there’s nobody better than her. Nothing gets past her. Volleying with her was incredible. I was always hoping for another take, you know, thinking, `What can I throw at her, how can I challenge her this time?’”
Widely known for his performances in the “American Pie” series, Jason Biggs completes “My Best Friend’s Girl”s complicated love triangle as Dustin, Tank’s best friend who can’t stop pining obsessively – maybe a little too obsessively – for Alexis. “The word `stalker’ comes to mind,” says Biggs, laughing. “He’s a sweetheart, though. He’s the guy who, on paper, is the perfect boyfriend, but he’s probably a little too much, and he comes to realize that later.”
For Cook, it was crucial to find a co-star with whom he could form a believable on-screen friendship. “It’s very important that audience senses a real bond and chemistry between these two guys,” he says. “I knew immediately when I met Jason that we were in great shape. We have a back and forth and a banter.”
“Jason’s energy is lovely,” adds Hudson. “He’s so talented, and he’s so present, and he’s really funny, and he’s so much fun to work with. Every once in a while you meet certain people throughout your career who inspire you and who you keep with you. And Jason is really one of those people.”
Actress Lizzy Caplan, who recently appeared in the J.J. Abrams-produced “Cloverfield”, relished the opportunity to play Amy, Alexis’ foul-mouthed roommate. “I never get to take it really over the top and I was excited to do that, definitely,” she says. “Amy is filthy and says a lot of very, very dirty things. She’s the one who encourages Alexis to go out and get it on.”
Rounding out the all-star cast is the inimitable “30 Rock” star, Alec Baldwin, who makes a priceless appearance as Tank’s father, Professor Turner, a liberal academic at a women’s college who’s secretly a raging chauvinist and womanizer. “Turner is the most disgusting, sexually selfish guy I’ve seen in a film in a long, long time,” admits Baldwin. “You talk about male chauvinist pig, this guy is a whole pig farm of male chauvinism. He’s horrible. People are going to laugh at this guy, because it’s funny. But it’s sick and it’s sad.”
“All of us had a blast with Alec,” reports Deutch. “He has as much range as anyone I’ve ever worked with. He’s able to be hilariously funny and also powerfully dramatic in the same moment. That’s very difficult. He’s got a unique barometer as an actor where he can practically direct himself.”
Cook felt an immediate kinship with Baldwin on set which only enhanced their on-screen relationship as father and son. “Alec Baldwin is a classic,” he says. “He comes in with just an unbelievable energy and understanding of this character. Working with him is like putting on that favorite pair of jeans, you know. He’s inspiring.”
Baldwin was equally impressed with Cook and his ability to carry the responsibilities of a leading man. “I really wasn’t prepared for how much I would like Dane. There aren’t a lot of guys who are comics and who audiences really want to see kiss the girl. I think there are a lot of movies that Dane could do. He’s a very intense guy and very talented.”
For director Howie Deutch, making “My Best Friend’s Girl” was an opportunity to return to the kind of storytelling that marked his 1980s hits, “Pretty in Pink” and “Some Kind of Wonderful”. “I haven’t had a chance to get back to a romantic movie in a long time, a funny movie that’s based on relationships,” says the director. “I’m really interested in relationships and why we’re together, what makes them click. I could watch a guy and a girl having a date, you know, for hours, just watching what they do.”
“Howie has experience with some of the greats in comedy, like Jack Lemon and Walter Matthau,” says Cook. “He knows comedy, but he also brings depth to his directing. I trust him enough to ask a lot of questions. He’s been an incredible mentor on this film.”
“Great directors don’t transmit their tension when they’re working, and that’s Howie,” adds Baldwin. “No one is more enjoyable to shoot with.”
The cast particularly appreciated the improvisation that Deutch encouraged on set. In some cases, the director would keep the camera rolling, calling for continuous takes until they ran out of film. “Howie’s one of those people who really wants everybody to feel like they have a hand in developing their character. That’s one of the best feelings you can have on a movie set,” says Hudson.
Deutch explains that he’s a firm believer in improvisation, but only if the ad-libs are layered into the text. “The foundation of the scene has to be there first,” he says. “This script is incredibly funny, so it was easier to transition into improv because the material was there.”
Filming for the production took place on location in Boston, Massachusetts, which was a significant homecoming for Cook, who originally hails from Arlington, a Boston suburb. “I first stepped onto a comedy stage in Harvard Square in 1990, in CityCambridge, and I’ve wanted to come back to Boston and work for quite some time. It’s been a dream of mine. And doing a movie with Kate Hudson and Jason Biggs and Howie Deutch and Alec Baldwin-” He laughs. “It’s almost like, any minute now I’m going to wake up and hopefully not be back in 10th grade, still day-dreaming in Mr. Russell’s history class.”
“CityBoston is a great town, “ adds Hudson. “It’s kind of like an east coast San Francisco. It’s a big sports town, which I love, because I grew up with all brothers and I love my sports. I love football. So I got to go to some football games.”
Looking back on production, Hudson is most thankful for the relaxed atmosphere on set and the cohesive feeling among the cast. “We all really enjoyed playing the characters we played,” she says. “We all got funny set pieces to do. We all were able to show certain things we haven’t done before. And Howie just sort of let us roll with it and have a really good time doing it. It was a great experience.”
Production notes provided by Lionsgate Films.
My Best Friend’s Girl
Starring: Dane Cook, Kate Hudson, Jason Biggs, Alec Baldwin, Lizzy Caplan, Riki Lindhome, Mini Anden, Hilary Pingle
Directed by: Howard Deutch
Screenplay by: Jordan Cahan
Release: September 19, 2008
MPAA Rating: R for sequences of strong bloody gruesome violence, grisly images involving nudity, sexual content, language.
Studio: Lionsgate Films
Box Office Totals
Domestic: $19,219,250 (67.4%)
Foreign: $9,308,083 (32.6%)
Total: $28,527,333 (Worldwide)