Whatever you’re inclined to think or feel about Dane Cook, chances are you do so strongly. Dude’s like Radiohead. Or green peppers. Be assured: Wheresoever there’s an online message board with a Dane Cook strand, or so much as a video of Cook with comments enabled, so too will you find vehement supporters and detractors of the comic-turned-actor.

This matters because: In the next few months, Cook will be rather inescapable. Besides an old rumor that he’ll have a cameo in Bay’s upcoming Transformers, the manic "SUperFInger" purveyor will figure prominently in three high-profile flicks: Mr. Brooks (6/1), as a voyeur/blackmailing tag-along to closeted killer Kevin Costner; Good Luck Chuck (with Jessica Alba and Dan Fogler), a late-summer (8/24) sex comedy (and modern-day Greek myth?) about a dude (Cook) with a peculiar post-coital curse/blessing combo; and Dan in Real Life (September) with Cook as Mitch, younger brother to Steve Carell’s Dan, who finds himself unwittingly smitten with Mitch’s girlfriend. (2008 brings the animated Horton Hears a Who, with Cook as part of a rather interesting voice cast.)

So, does Cook have what it takes? Well, it depends. Working in his favor is the nature of his act, which depends almost entirely upon personality, delivery, and storytelling — and is wildly popular, at that. Cook’s standup performances, indeed, are cases of rabid showmanship and personality glut: He stalks the stage, menacing the audience like some predatory, anecdote-wielding monster out of the kitchen scene in Jurassic Park. He thrashes maniacally about before stopping on a dime to compose himself. Then he seems, in an instant, a likable, sensitive, nearly normal human being. The emotional daredevilry is clearly there, which gives him a leg up. His bare-bones persona, with a fair bit of reining in, would presumably translate more easily to genuine characterization than, say, an act like Jerry Seinfeld’s, or even the equally manic but more "jokey" and impression-heavy Jim Carrey’s. Now, all I’ve seen of Cook’s is his line-cook bit in Waiting …, which, while not too demanding, worked just fine, and his Vicious Circle HBO special, which made me laugh pretty hard in a few places. (I refuse to chastise myself for opting out of Torque, Mr. 3000, and Employee of the Month.) I suppose I’m a middler: The guy is definitely funny, once you’re used to him; meantime, I understand some of the criticisms (though I don’t really care to comment on this mess either way), and think this impression is pretty dead-on.

Surely, the aforementioned Mr. Brooks is Cook’s first big test — one that The New York Times, for one, seems to think he’s passed. For my part, I think the guy’s cinematic and charismatic enough to carry off the ol’ "play-yourself" deal, which has served many an actor well. As for more complicated, nuanced roles, we’ll have to see, but I’m not writing anyone off. In a world where Murray and Sandler can surprise us, I’d say it pays to keep an open mind.

Recommend (0)

|  Comments (0)

|  Email

|  Share

Share  Facebook Digg del.icio.us