The comedian and actor Dane Cook has always had his place in the comedy world with his home-hitting, at times boorish, theatrical style. His performances can be exaggerated, and his delivery raw, but he always nails the point, and the camera loves him, making his film history one of note. His connection to young adults is no surprise, especially among the bro-brah audience, because his take on everyday life is his sweet spot.
With a talent as big as Cook’s, you would never imagine he would make the documentary Funny Money: The Dane Cook Story. Early in his career, Cook discovered that he had put all his trust and money into a valued family member, his brother, Darryl McCauley, and his brother’s ex-wife, Erika McCauley, who would throw him into financial ruin at the height of his career. Only Cook is gifted, and he dug deep to recover, because this wasn’t just some bad accountant or business partner. It was a close family member who did him wrong.
Funny Money: The Dane Cook Story is a true story about Dane Cook—a Greek tragedy of betrayal that only a Cook can tell as well as he did. His comedic prowess sets this documentary apart from most others about rise and fall. Cook leaves no stone unturned, from his humble origins in a Catholic neighborhood outside Boston, where he grew up poor with a father who was a severe alcoholic, but with a strong, resilient mother who kept his family close.
Dane Cook holds a production slate before his interview in Funny Money: The Dane Cook Story.
“…Cook discovered that he had put all his trust and money into a valued family member, his brother, Darryl McCauley…”
With no loss of accents, director Brett Harvey brings together Cook’s family, childhood friends, investigators, prosecutors, and others connected to this atrocity to unpack the clues and events that led to Cook’s financial sabotage, all while preserving family bonding through humor and memories and maintaining Cook’s style and comedic appeal.
Funny Money: The Dane Cook Story also offers insight into Cook’s relentless, tireless drive to become a comedian, despite so many times when he could have given up. The documentary tells Cook’s story of his rise to fame, family, greed, and survival in the first person, using well-chosen archival images, video, and financial records.
However, the glue of Funny Money: The Dane Cook Story is Dane Cook. Cook tells his story without fear and unabashedly because that is who he is—true to his spirit and self. The story of this crazy family situation becomes even more fascinating with the involvement of his brother’s ex-wife, who takes this embezzlement story to another level.
As a “bona fide” witch, Erika McCauley’s interviews are strange and add a bizarre element to Cook’s financial ruin, kinda like every family’s dark cloud. Only it seems this one might still be hanging around, and it’s a very thin line of belief that she did not know all that was happening—all the spending, investments, and checks had her name associated with them or printed on them. She served a small prison sentence, while Darryl, after serving six years for his conviction, has disappeared.
Is there more to come? Who knows, but perhaps a second act for Cook is on the way.
"…Cook tells his story without fear and unabashedly because that is who he is—true to his spirit and self."
