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Dane Cook on Good Luck Chuck
By Fred Topel | Image property of Lionsgate.
Good Luck Chuck is inspired by the buddy comedies of Dane Cook's childhood, particularly his favorite, Planes, Trains and Automobiles. Cook hopes that he can combine wild R-rated laughs with a heartfelt story where you care about the characters. Chuck (Cook) believes he is cursed because every woman he sleeps with married the next guy she meets. His friend Stu (Dan Fogler) is the kind of buddy the fits Cook's vision.
Dane Cook Talks Good Luck Chuck
"Granted we have an R comedy on our hands, but what can we do to give it elements of that real classic best friend," asked Cook. "In true best friend roles like that, it always comes from love. Everything you do, whether it’s being a buffoon, or whether it’s being the guy who finally throws your car keys in the air in the moonlight, 'Thanks man, I’m going to get the girl!' Dan really brought elements of both to his character. He sometimes got on Chuck’s final nerve, but at the same time he also sets me up for some really great moments comedically and romantically with the Alba character. Dan really came through with what I think is a classic buddy movie character."
Romantic comedies often have slapstick encounters with animals. Look at the ouvres of Matthew McConaughey and Ben Stiller. In Good Luck Chuck, it's penguins. "The penguins we had, we had five, then they used CGI and they made it into a thousand penguins. The five that we worked with, I almost likened them to like puppies. They were very friendly, granted to be very direct. Much like horses, they don’t really think about when they’re going to poo, they just kind of do their business. But I found they weren’t persnickety at all. They were very smart and fun to play with. The favorite penguin the one that was really smartest, his name was Luxies. And he was cool, he would dive when you tell him to, and he was quite entertaining on those long, boring set ups when you’re sitting for two hours on a fake Sea World mock set. We’d play with these penguins."
Good Luck Chuck
Good Luck Chuck
Good Luck Chuck
As a stand up comedian, you wouldn't want Cook to totally stick to the script, but he picked his moments for improvisation. "We definitely had our share of being let off the leash, so to speak, but I’m a performer, and especially with the collaborative effort of a film, that wants to see it on the page first. I’ve been in situations where somebody says, 'Oh, just go in there and make it up when you go,' and when you’re working with a team of people, not everybody’s thinking on the same parallel thinking. If it’s on the page, which Josh Stolberg wrote a great script that made me laugh out loud pacing around my house reading it, you get on to the set, you do it as written a couple of times, and then you might say to the director or Mark would say to us, ‘Are you feeling anything else, or is there any other truth that you can throw in here or just something’s funny that’s an aside or an asterisk that you can tag?’"
Ultimately, the director used those moments. "When I finally watched the final movie, I’d definitely say there’s a big chunk of in the moment spontaneous comedy that you can’t you just can’t have written. It’s a moment between two actors or an ensemble that an audience feels even more than what you’re saying, so you’re going to see a movie that has a solid script but also has moments where Dan and myself and even Jessica get to just let it fly and the results will be up on the big screen."
Good Luck Chuck opens to theatres
on September 21st.
For the trailer, stills, other posters and more movie info, go to the Good Luck Chuck Movie Page.
Fred Topel
Sources: Image property of Lionsgate.
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