Dane Cook: Vicious Circle

2006
6.7| 2h12m| R| en
Details

Vicious Circle captures the hottest comic in America in his first HBO comedy event, a unique "in the round" performance before his hometown Boston fans.

Cast

Dane Cook

Director

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Reviews

AnhartLinkin This story has more twists and turns than a second-rate soap opera.
KnotStronger This is a must-see and one of the best documentaries - and films - of this year.
InformationRap This is one of the few movies I've ever seen where the whole audience broke into spontaneous, loud applause a third of the way in.
Mandeep Tyson The acting in this movie is really good.
Christopher Reid I think Dane Cook is a funny person, he has a natural comedic sense and can execute ideas well. He has good timing and plenty of energy and physical skills. And many of his ideas here are quite interesting and deep, even though the topics are pretty common (relationships, sex, family). The problem is that he goes for too many easy jokes. Weak, obvious ones. Maybe it's because of the huge, fanatical audience. Maybe that made him indulge more. It's a shame because I think he's capable of hilarious, insightful comedy. There are glimpses of it but too often it's interrupted by unnecessary additions or side-tracking.The Beatles stopped touring in 1965 because of their screaming fans - they couldn't hear themselves or their music. Pretty depressing really. This audience also seems to be allergic to quiet - they appear to have an urgent need to fill any and every moment of silence they can find with screaming, shouting, cheering and applause. It's pretty annoying. It's amazing that adults can get this excited about a regular human being. They're just dying to touch him or be near him. I can understand laughter and some applause, but here it keeps cutting off his flow and comes at inappropriate times - they're clearly desperate for (his) attention.I like true stories but I guess every comedian lies and exaggerates - it's basically part of the job. Still, it's annoying if most of it sounds completely made up which is the case with this special. Nevertheless, Dane is good at telling stories. It's just that they drag a bit. If I were a teenager they might be funny. But you can generally tell where he's going with things and you want him to get to the point.I think he just lacks a little artistic discipline. The crowd seems to love it which is important but you want to create something timeless as well. There has to be something personal about it. Dane comes across more as a craftsman. Skilled but not trying to do anymore than the minimum necessary. It's a shame because he seems very talented and intelligent and funny. He doesn't seem to be working anywhere near his full potential - he's aiming for what makes people laugh (including cheap jokes) rather than what's truly, meaningfully funny.
jezthepez Though I thought that many of the laughs were undeserved and perhaps at some points forced, I thought that the actual performance was not all that bad. Firstly, talking for 2 hours and 12 minutes is an impressive feat in itself, but to a large crowd and maintaining that kind of energy throughout the performance is really good. Also, his material is not that bad at all. Though his stuff may not agree with certain senses of humor, I think that there is at least one joke for everyone, however, there is almost certainly a cringe-worthy moment for everyone as well. Thirdly, his improv is quite high standard (excluding the Jake part)and found it generally added to his performance. Finally, his observations are quite good, and though many of his observations were not specific to my context, he managed to draw the audience in to his point of view. Top Stuff.
Paul On the whole, I thought this was pretty lame, but I can see how certain people might enjoy it -- e.g., Catholic college kids, anyone under 18, or women (or gay men) who think Dane Cook is hot.First, the compliments: it was interesting to see him perform "in the round", his physicality is admirable, and his ability to go from extremely clean (or even child-like) jokes to extremely vulgar jokes shows a nice range.However, overall this just didn't do it for me. I hardly laughed at anything. Most of the jokes seemed to be the kind that a teenager might make up. His "observations" about relationships seemed like they were made by someone who had been in maybe 2 relationships, neither of which lasted more than 6 months -- yet he used the words women "always" do such-and-such, men "always" do whatever. Always? Really? His over-the-top descriptions of how men and women argue seemed completely false.Many other jokes just missed the mark for me, such as the bit about crying - and the implication that "everyone" needs a good cry. Sure, I cry at certain things, but I never need a "good cry." I am not trying to sound tough here, it's just that I don't know any adult men that come home from work, and just start bawling because they wanted to cry their hearts out all day long. Therefore, I chuckled at the jokes, although I was thinking that it had nothing to do with any reality that I personally experience. Girls and young boys could probably relate.Another example - he brings a girl home and she starts masturbating, and he does too. He asks if she likes it and she, like other women, "always" says "ooooh yeah". The joke goes something like: "what if she said, thanks for asking, but no, I don't really want to see that." Are you wondering where the joke is? Me too. Some women enjoy seeing men masturbate, and many do not. So, where is the humor? One last example - he refers to word "chit-chat" as "chat-chit" and then actually states something to the effect that he is very clever.Overall, I just didn't relate to any of his self-absorbed humor, and the "observations" seemed to come from a world that I did not recognize. Although when I was in high school (20 years ago) and knew nothing about relationships or life, I probably would have liked it a lot more.
m0viEmAniA1029 If you are a fan of Dane Cook's then you'll definitely love this. It's just a lot of Dane being Dane. And it's GREAT. There's old material thrown in with a lot of new stuff. And all of it is great. He even uses one of his old jokes in a new one. It's a great blend. It's also a pretty decent length of a show, about an hour & a half long. I'd say if you get the chance, watch the uncut version on DVD too. There's about 40-50 extra minutes in the "DANE-gerous" version. Including an encore, some extentions on a few of the bits that aired on the HBO special, and a few completely new things. I have to give Vicious Circle a 10/10 for pure excellence. I quote VC every day. It's great and even if you're not a fan of Dane Cook's this might turn you into one.