"How to" loses friends and alienates people with bad writing and confusing casting
By: Dan Kaplan
Posted: 10/10/08
"How to Lose Friends and Alienate People"
Directed by: Robert Weide
Staring: Simon Pegg, Kirsten Dunst, Megan Fox
3 stars out of 5
For better or for worse, Simon Pegg has made himself a career fish-out-of-water actor.
First, there was "Shaun of the Dead." In that film, Pegg's title character essentially defined the term "loser": dumped by his girlfriend and rejected by his stepfather, he still had to take charge as an unlikely hero to save the day.
Next came 2007's "Hot Fuzz," in which Pegg played a gung-ho London cop displaced to a village entirely devoid of any crime.
Both films were graced with hilarious scripts and gifted supporting casts, and Pegg hit the peak of his comedic ability.
So it'd be assumed that his newest film, "How To Lose Friends and Alienate People," would achieve a similar level of success.
On paper, all of the parts to the equation are there. It's got another outcast role for Pegg and a terrific cast that includes Megan Fox, Kirsten Dunst and even Jeff Bridges.
The trouble is that the script allows virtually nobody involved - including Pegg - to truly play up to potential. "How To Lose Friends and Alienate People" isn't an unlikable movie by any means, but it's one that could have been done a lot better.
The movie is an adaptation of a memoir of the same title by British journalist Toby Young. The book was a lewd, crass and often X-rated look into Young's professional life, narrating his failed pursuit of success at Vanity Fair magazine.
Amazingly, the movie is able to capture many of these hilarious bits while still maintaining an R-rating. Given that Young co-produced the movie, the situations that present themselves in the movie are all rather believable.
As protagonist Sidney Young, Pegg is reminiscent of Ricky Gervais' David Brent character on the original version of "The Office" - awkward enough to make you squirm, yet simultaneously likable enough to grow attached to.
The only difference is that Brent played right into Gervais' brand of humor; the writing here would be better suited, perhaps, to Jack Black than to Pegg.
Consequently, Pegg's lines and mannerisms throughout the film sometimes feel a bit forced, but he's not alone.
Bridges, as Carter parallel Clayton Harding, seems out of place in his role. It's almost like his appearance in "Iron Man"; one gets the impression that he was only cast for the sake of having Jeff Bridges in the movie.
But Fox is by far the biggest disappointment. The writing for her character, up-and-coming actress Sophie Maes, is so bad that the audience becomes disgusted whenever she's on screen. Yes, you read right, disgusted by Megan Fox.
Fortunately, there are some bright spots. Gillian Anderson is a revelation as publicist Eleanor Johnson, a role that provides perhaps the best satirical glance into the celebrity magazine industry.
And Dunst, as Young's love interest Alison Olsen, wins over the audience as the film transitions from a display of all things ridiculous to a light romantic comedy.
For the hypercritical moviegoer, "How to Lose Friends and Alienate People" will be more "miss" than "hit." The lackluster writing will undoubtedly render this adaptation a dud.
However, for those satisfied with just a good laugh (or 100) or a feel-good date movie, there might just be something here.
