How To Lose Friends and Alienate People

I've already been to three movies this weekend and I'll probably end up getting to one more today. For the moment I really only have the energy to write one review so I'll do the one I saw Friday night. But there's more on the way.

"How To Lose Friends and Alienate People" - Sidney Young (Simon Pegg) has grown up believing that the key to happiness is to be famous. That once one is let past the velvet rope, no bad thing can ever befall them again. Until he's let in though all he wants to do is tear down those who've been allowed inside. The editor of a snarky London magazine that stomps on celebrities, Sidney's stunts include crashing a shindig with a pig in tow. These shenanigans catch the attention of Sharp's Magazine head man Clayton Harding (Jeff Bridges). Sidney flies away from his dysfunctional band of writers to New York, in what he believes is Harding's attempt to recapture his own "glory days."
However Harding is not about to give Sidney a free ride, even if this Brit does remind him of his younger self. "There are seven rooms," Harding explains coldly. "You're in the first one. I am in the seventh one."
The prospects for making the seventh room seem grim from the start, as Sidney's greatest talent lies in offending everyone he meets. His co-workers, the celebrities, everyone hates him. The one exception is fellow first roomer Alison Olsen (Kirsten Dunst), who merely dislikes him immensely. Still, he's being allowed glimpses of the world he's always yearned to be a part of. It is during one of these glimpses that he first meets rising starlet Sophie Maes (Megan Fox of "Transformers"). Alison assures him he has no chance but Sidney's determined to make it happen even at the possible expense of his journalistic ideals. Hijinks, gaffes, and offenses ensue.
"How To Lose Friends and Alienate People" is based on Toby Young's memoir of the same name and while I haven't read the book, so much about Robert B. Weide's film feels tremendously watered down. With each of Sidney's misadventures I could only think the real thing was probably ten times funnier and more shocking. Weide and screenwriter Peter Straughan can't decide if they're making a razor sharp skewering of celebrities and our cultural obsession with them or an engaging romantic comedy about a lovable screw up. The result is that it's not terribly successful as either.
The cast tries. I'm thoroughly convinced that no movie starring Simon Pegg can be a complete waste of time. He plays Young as an annoying sycophant yet he's far more likable than almost every other character in the movie. It's not his finest work by any stretch (the man is at his best with Team "Spaced") but he makes this movie far more watchable than it would otherwise be. Watching him explain to elitist snobs why "Con Air" is the greatest film of all-time generates some big laughs.
As Alison, Dunst isn't given a whole lot to do and in her early scenes she just seems to be off her game. The performance gets better as the movie goes along and she and Pegg do their darndest to make the romantic comedy aspect of the film work. With a better script these two could be incredibly funny together. Fox shows that she's not really much of an actress. Hollywood airhead Sophie could have been a brutally funny character in the right hands. Bridges is good as always though I wish he had been given more to do. Harding's an interesting character. Gillian Anderson is essentially wasted in the role of Sophie's agent but Max Minghella's ("Art School Confidential") turn as her other major client, a pretentious indie filmmaker, is a glimpse into the movie this should have been. Everything that comes out of his mouth is funny.
"How To Lose Friends" is not a bad film but it had the potential to be so much better. If you're a Pegg fan it's worth a rental but it's a mere snack before "Paul" (written by and starring Pegg and "Spaced"/"Shaun"/"Fuzz" buddy Nick Frost). 6/10.

Now here's a clip from "Spaced," 'cause why not? Embedding's been disabled so here's the link.

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