Review in a Hurry: Dane Cook plays Tank Turner, a guy who gets paid by disgruntled bachelors to act like such an obnoxious jerk that they look good in comparison. It isn't a documentary.
The Bigger Picture: When love-struck Dustin (Jason Biggs) declares his true feelings for beautiful Alexis (Kate Hudson), she shoots him down and suggests they just be friends first. Unbeknownst to her, Dustin's best friend and roommate is Tank, who specializes in being the rebound date from hell, a scumbag who sends women fleeing back to the better man they recently dumped. But a funny thing happens: turns out Alexis really likes a-holes, and Tank, unable to rely on his usual tricks, finds himself falling for her.
At first, this seems like the perfect vehicle for Cook, whose humor is often abrasive and hasn't worked too well in his prior romantic leading roles, like Employee of the Month. Finally able to play an unbridled ass, he does so with gusto in the movie's early moments, which revel in the cynicism of the degree to which women really do get off on bad boys. Sadly, the latter half of the film requires Tank to get sincere, and Cook's just not too good at that, especially since the story up until that point has been trying to get us to sympathize with Dustin, who then suddenly falls by the wayside.
In trying to play to both Cook's raunch-loving fanbase and to hopeless romantics, director Howard Deutch has made an awkward half-breed that's likely to alienate both camps. Chances are you'll love half the movie, and despise the rest.
The 180—a Second Opinion: There's a scene where Tank tries to offend a staunchly religious date by taking her to a blasphemous pizza parlor called Cheesus Crust. Its so, so wrong, and yet genius. A touch of surreal absurdity that the movie could have used more of.