Some actors have bad streaks: each time Dane Cook releases a film, it’s a blight against humanity. My Best Friend’s Girl rehashes the ludicrous conceit of Good Luck Chuck — that Cook is irresistible to women — with a soupçon of self-awareness: this time out, Cook’s aggressively charmless demeanor is all an act.

Cook’s Tank Turner (a reference to the great 1974 Isaac Hayes vehicle Truck Turner? God, I hope not…) is like an asshole version of Hitch, helping dumped dudes win back their women by exposing the latter to the horrors of the dating scene — namely, him.

Etiquette dictates that I tell you that Truck is enlisted by his best pal Dustin (Jason Biggs) to ply his unique brand of emotional terrorism on the woman Dustin loves (Kate Hudson), and that our crass lothario begins crushing on said beloved in short order. But in lieu of pointing out its essential lameness, I’d rather talk about how vile this film is around the edges. Like Good Luck Chuck, it’s chock full of hysterical/oblivious /conniving/nympho-maniacal female characters (with Hudson’s ostensible romantic lead encompassing all categories). Like Good Luck Chuck, it’s filled with dialogue that’s repulsive not for its profane or scatological qualities but for the breathtaking meanness that’s underneath.

The only moment of pleasure comes from hearing Cook — in character, but still — moan “I suck.” At the Sunday afternoon screening I attended, a female voice from behind me replied “yes, you do.” As we were the only two people on that side of the theatre, we exchanged a smile. And who says movies have lost the potential to bring people together?