Sprocket Films Australia | Movie Reviews | How to Lose Friends & Alienate People

Genre: Comedy

Cast: Simon Pegg, Kirsten Dunst, Jeff Bridges, Danny Huston, Gillian Anderson, Megan Fox
Director: Robert B. Weide
Writer(s): Peter Straughan (based on the book by Toby Young)

Runtime: 110 mins

To paraphrase another reviewer, Simon Pegg is criminally funny. From comic timing to playful characterisation, the man makes it all look far too easy.

After breaking out in the highly avante garde British sketch shows Asylum and Big Train, then garnering a cult following with the eclectically amusing Spaced, he's been on the "up-and-coming" list for several years now. However, it seems the success of both Shaun of the Dead and Hot Fuzz have finally sealed the deal, landing him a number of substantial roles, including that of Scotty in JJ Abrams highly anticipated reboot of Star Trek. Now with How to Lose Friends... Pegg has his sights on securing some real bankability. But has he made the most of it?

Based on the near-autobiographical novel by Toby Young, a writer known for his tactless remarks and scathing wit, How to Lose Friends… fits quite nicely into the niche of car-crash comedy which director Weide helped popularize with Curb Your Enthusiasm. Following the life and times of one Sydney Young (Pegg), a cocky, self-absorbed and often rather repulsive London journalist, it details his origins editing an indie publication before catching the the eye of Clayton Harding (Bridges… lanky grey wig and all), Editor of the fictional Sharps magazine. Enamoured by a chance at greatness - and seemingly quick to shun the independent roots from whence he came - Young is soon whisked away to New York and into the world of bitchy fashionistas and celebrity manipulation, all the while convinced that the world is in dire need of his "edgy" persona.

Sounds a little cliched? Well… yes, it is, and though its cast of near-farcical characters sets it apart from the likes of The Devil Wears Prada, they're often only memorable due to their own inherent dislikability.

Pegg is… Well, Pegg, even if he is channeling equal parts Larry David and Ricky Gervais. Slimey, desperate and strangely sweet at times, Sydney plays as both an ass and an auteur, someone who believes in "shaking it up" yet rarely achieves what he sets out to do. Of the supporters, Bridges plays a fine, one-note performance, while Dunst seems to teeter constantly between outrage and sympathy, seemingly aware that she's destined to fall for Young within the films formulaic constraints. Huston's Maddox - though exceptional - is a tall glass of pandering evil, Anderson's producer is inhuman, rarely defying stereotype, and though a myriad of supporting roles wholly make-up for the inconsistency of any one role, Megan Fox's doe-eyed, brainless starlet Sophie Maes is not only painfully two-dimensional but also as emotive as an airbrushed cricket bat.

Still, there's Pegg, who against all odds has fashioned a character as openly appalling as he is surprisingly endearing, leading to moments that range from invertedly embarrassing to laugh out loud hilarious (See if you don't giggle when Sydney meets the aptly credited Wizard/Dentist). Fortunately, when combined with a good heart and assured direction, it's these moments that make How to Lose Friends…a memorable enough romp, even if it doesn't buy Pegg a licence to print money.

David gives 3/5 Sprockets

blog comments powered by Disqus