How to Lose Friends & Alienate People

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How to Lose Friends & Alienate People

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How to Lose Friends & Alienate...

Simon Pegg, Kirsten Dunst, Danny Huston, Gillian Anderson, Megan Fox

A British writer struggles to fit in at a high-profile magazine in New York. Based on Toby Young's memoir "How to Lose Friends & Alienate People".

Id: 10940354

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How to Lose Friends & Alienate People Recent Reviews
  • xXxHarleyxQuinnxXx
    June 28, 2009
    xXxHarleyxQuinnxXx
    Accually very funny! I love Simon Peg, he is a great comedien! British actors are so much funnier than Americans!
  • her69eyes
    April 30, 2009
    her69eyes
    When it comes to reviewing comedies, the most important thing to consider is how often it made you laugh. That's really all you could ask for, afterall - the great comedies also are worth caring about, but successful pictures in the genre are simply funny. "How to Lose Friends an...( read more)d Alienate People" is not. It's jokes are all sight gags and sophomoric one-liners, and the romantic subplot is not in the least bit convincing. While the cast is talented, with Megan Fox being a surprisingly effective comic figure, the script is another retread of a comedy nobody laughed at in the first place.

    The film is based on a real-life eccentric named Toby Young. Toby wrote for Vanity Fair for 5 years, and several of the absurd moments of the film are true stories from his autobiography. For instance, there's a scene in the film where our buffoon brings a stripper to work on "Bring Your Daughter to Work Day" that's apparently true. I have not read his book, but it sounds like there is potential for a wonderful movie to be made about him. This, of course, is not it.

    Sidney Young (Simon Pegg), a bumbling Brit, gets a job offer from publisher Clayton Harding (Jeff Bridges) to fly to America and write for Sharps magazine. The office environment is not familiar territory, however, as made evident when he wears a t-shirt proclaiming "Young, Dumb, and Full of Come" on his first day. In fact, the only co-worker who seems to put up with him is Alison Olsen (Kirsten Dunst), who is dating Sidney's slimeball boss, Lawrence (Danny Huston). Meanwhile, we're introduced to a sexy star on the rise, Sophie Maes (Megan Fox), whose starring role in a Mother Theresa biopic is clear Oscar bait.

    The charm of Simon Pegg, who was an excellent leading man in "Shaun of the Dead" and "Hot Fuzz", seems to be lost when he's not involved with the script. Like another one of his recent films, "Run, Fatboy, Run", his character transformation of slimeball to endearing charmer is anything but convincing. Both films are cheap romantic comedies where Simon plays a character that is impossibly obnoxious. I've not lost faith in the comedian, but he's not as effective in this sort of role as Ricky Gervais was in "Ghost Town".

    Kirsten Dunst, another talented actress, is fine in the film but ultimately forgettable. This, however, is the scripts fault - why should we like this woman who is dating a prick, only to dump him for our "hero", an equally obnoxious jerk? Megan Fox gets quite a few laughs and proves that she's a more talented performer than many people tend to give her credit for.

    "How to Lose Friends and Alienate People" is obnoxious, predictable, and overlong, and it has a horrendously lame script that not even the talents of a great cast can salvage. It's remarkably unfunny and doesn't make for company that is even in the least bit pleasant. Skip it.
  • gor41
    April 17, 2009
    gor41
    Amiable farce with an impressive cast let down by a predictable plot. Dunst is a surprisingly good comedic actress.
  • EarthlyAlien
    April 14, 2009
    EarthlyAlien
    A scandal sheet satire that wears its antisocial tendencies on its sleeve, the film takes aim at the inane gossip rag media world. But more often than not avoids punishment to fit the tabloid grime, that calls for more caustic rather than giddy strokes. Pegg manages to be both ob...( read more)noxious and eventually likeable, and he's funny enough to warrant the price of admission. But after this and Run Fatboy Run, he really needs to get his shit together, call Edgar Wright and go back to England, and deliver something before he loses fans and alienates his audience.
  • franktowers
    March 31, 2009
    franktowers
    it ended kinda meh but it was fun
  • audrinalove2
    January 4, 2010
    audrinalove2
    This was okay, i laughed but I cant stand Megan Fox & on a whole the movie was a bit lacking.
  • siewmaywah
    January 3, 2010
    siewmaywah
    A sharp look at our celebrity culture. Alternately silly and clever. Well cast.
  • albertojeca
    January 1, 2010
    albertojeca
    Algo graciosa, pero demasiado predecible.
  • JigsawsCute
    January 1, 2010
    JigsawsCute
    Since Shaun of the Dead his films have been getting worse...
  • Chosen718
    December 31, 2009
    Chosen718
    Decent romantic comedy. Pegg and Dunst were good, Megan Fox did well in the only role she could possibly do well in...a parody of herself. Jeff Bridges and Danny Huston were good too.
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