How to Lose Friends & Alienate People

source: How to Lose Friends & Alienate People

This might be the silliest, stupid and pointless movie that I have ever seen. For the life of me, I can't imagine a serious movie-goer would enjoy this truly bad movie. I cannot put it any more strongly - it Stinks with a capital S. Comedy? I never so much as snickered. In addition, the unnecssary excessive use of the F-word, I found a bit disconcerting. I must add that while in the past, I have relied on IMDb for fair reviews, but my trust in your opinions has suffered a major blow! Having said that, I think the story line has the potential to be a very funny comedy. Simon Pegg can be quite funny at times, but like many comedians, he exaggerates his actions a bit too much for my taste, but then I am strongly attracted to the subtler forms of humor. I had never seen any of Mr. Pegg's prior efforts, and I do understand that he is very popular in England. As I said, he can be quite funny at times, and I would really like to see him in some of his earlier movies, so reserving judgment on his performance.

Simon Pegg stars as Sidney Young, a stereotypically clumsy idiot Brit working as a celebrity journalist in this US comedy. After getting a very lucky break he starts work at the highly respected Sharps magazine run by a reliably on form Jeff Bridges in New York. It's more The Devil Wears Prada than Shaun of the Dead. The unlikely love interest is provided by Kirsten Dunst who works well with Pegg for the laughs but they don't exactly set the screen ablaze with their passion. Sidney goes through some emotional challenges while trying to decide if he should forget about his journalistic principles in order to get material in the magazine. Of course he's eventually seduced by the glitz and glamour of the world of celebrities especially the young starlet Sophie Maes (Transformers' Megan Fox). Fans of Shaun of the Dead, Hot Fuzz and Spaced will wonder if Pegg himself ever experienced similar feelings in real life with this film and to an extent Run Fat Boy Run as one of the UK's best comic talents being ruined by the US. All in all this is a forgettable comedy. Please come back to us Simon, we can forgive and forget.

Based on the autobiographical tale of writer Toby Young, this film follows a British writer (renamed Sidney Young, played by Simon Pegg) who is hired by a major magazine in New York. To work there, though, Pegg must soften up his edges and lose his soul. The model for the movie is La Dolce Vita, referenced directly many times in the film. There is almost nothing I hate more than a mediocre or bad film referencing a movie I love (it also references All About Eve). How to Lose Friends isn't that bad a movie, probably, but it bothered me with its insistence on being as uninteresting as humanly possible. The cast includes Kirsten Dunst, Jeff Bridges, Gillian Anderson and Danny Huston. All are fine, but this kind of material is a huge waste of time for all of them. It's even worse for Simon Pegg, who won so many of us over in Shaun of the Dead and Hot Fuzz. I didn't see Run, Fatboy, Run, but it's only two films into his American crossover career and he's nearly castrated. One more chance is all he gets. Thankfully, I'm one of the few people who actually saw this movie. Fireproof, the Christian-themed movie where Kirk Cameron plays a computer *-addicted fireman, made nearly three times as much money as it did.

One would think that a director usually makes the difference in distinguishing the material from other, more standard fare. Robert Weide, while working mostly in TV, has over 2 dozen Curb Your Enthusiasm episodes to his credit, and as such one might think he would be prime material to direct some solid satire. Yet perhaps for Wiede it's the writing that makes the difference, ultimately, or just based on some of the actors he works with. Simon Pegg is no Larry David, but on his own Pegg is very funny and with the right material (notably that with collaborator Edgar Wright) has created some exceptional British parodies. He's also got a strange charm to him, an affecting wit, and delivery that is up to snuff with other American actors he's working with here. But he can't completely overcome the screenplay. How to Lose Friends and Alienate people is about a wildman writer/editor at a cultish British magazine, and gets some tabloid buzz about bringing a pig to an awards show and getting totally smashed in the process. He grabs the attention of a once-maverick editor of a prestigious Manhattan magazine (Jeff Bridges), who hires him in part because (according to Pegg) he reminds him of his younger self. But he never gets an article published, at least without some hassle, and he also has some stiff competition with an older rival, and an attractive editor (Kirsten Dunst), not to mention an insatiable, sexy Megan Fox as a typically snooty celebrity gearing up for an awards-worthy part as a nun in a movie. To the credit of the cast and the director, it is a watchable effort, at least for those who may be able to spot references to La Dolce Vita (as if it weren't nailing it a little over the head), and occasionally there are some really big laugh out-loud gags (one I'll remember for a long while involves a prank call for a bunch of call-girls into the office of prickly a-hole Lawrence Maddox played by Danny Huston). But the actual love-interest angle with Pegg and Dunst is at best competent and at worst just weak and predictable with a few drunken melancholy scenes thrown in for good measure, and the likes of Bridges, Gillian Anderson (as Fox's stand-offish but shallow agent) and Fox herself playing on a theme of discontented "hot" talents are usually at the mercy of a screenplay that only intermittently gives them things to latch on to. I wouldn't mind seeing large parts of it on TV again, especially for some of Pegg's stinging barbs of dialog, but it's a partial disappointment.

Straughan's adaptation of 'How to Lose Friends & Alienate People' is a charming and funny albeit familiar film. Yes, the story itself isn't anything new to the screen. The film also had potential of being an engaging satire but it remains rather a feel good romantic comedy. I liked the mixture of American and British humour. It is a well executed film that is rushed in the beginning and clichéd in the end. I enjoyed the mid-sections the most. Pegg, yet again, dominates the movie with his comic power. He's simply hysterical even though he isn't very different from his other films. Jeff Bridges is fantastic. A smoking Gillian Anderson is cast against type as the neurotic, stuck-up and arrogant publicist. Kirsten Dunst looks quite cute here and delivers a charming performance. Megan Fox pretty much plays herself. 'How to Lose Friends & Alienate People' has got some hilarious dialogues brilliantly delivered by the actors. It is the comedic sequences that stand out while the romantic scenes and the more dramatic ones feel rather deja-vu. Pegg proves that he can carry a film on his own and 'How to Lose Friends & Alienate People' remains, at the least, highly entertaining.

This could have been so much better. Sure it delivered laughs but the plot fell short. The only reason i saw this was because of Simon Pegg( Who i loved in Hot Fuzz and Shaun of the dead). Pegg was still great but this movie felt like it didn't deserve him. This had the material to be up there with Pegg's other movies but it just fell under. Simon Pegg should stick to the British comedies with Nick Frost. This was a good comedy to sit back and have a laugh with but if your going for Simon Pegg then you won't get the quality of the other movies. I recommend it if you want a comedy that you don't have to take seriously. Toby Young should have handed his memoirs to Edgar Wright. He could have made it funnier. This was funny but if you came here for the next Shaun of the Dead or Hot Fuzz then turn around and run. 6/10

Sidney Young (Pegg) moves from England to New York to work for the popular magazine Sharpe's in a hope to live his dream lifestyle but struggles to make a lasting impression. Based on Toby Young's book about survival in American business, this comedy drama received mixed views from critiques. Labelled as inconsistently funny but with charm by the actors, how to lose friends seemed as a run of the mill fish out of the pond make fun at another culture comedy, but it isn't. This 2008 picture works on account of its actors and the simple yet sharp story. We start off in the past, then in the present and are working our way forwards to see how Young made his mark at one of America's top magazines. Pegg (Hot Fuzz) is too likable for words. Whether it's hitting zombies with a cricket bat or showing his sidekick the nature of the law the English actor brings a charm and light heartedness to every scene. Here, when the scripting is good but far from his own standards, he brings a great deal of energy to the picture and he alone is worth watching for. His antics with "Babe 3" are unforgivable, simply breathtaking stuff as is his over exuberant dancing, but he pulls it off splendidly. Bridges and Anderson do well at portraying the stereotypical magazine bosses where Dunst fits in nicely to the confused love interest. Megan Fox, who stole Transformers, reminds everyone she can act here with a funny hyperbole of a stereotype film star. The fact that her character Sophie Myles is starring in a picture about Mother Teresa is as laughable as her character's antics in the pool. To emphasize the point there is a dog, and Pegg rounds that off in true Brit style comedy, with a great little twist. Though a British film there is an adaptation of American lifestyle for Young as he tries to fit in and we can see the different approaches to story telling. Young wants the down right dirty contrasted with the American professionalism. The inclusion of modern day tabloid stars will soon make this film dated but the concept of exploitation of film star's gives this edge. Weide's first picture is not perfect. There are lapses in concentration as the plot becomes too soapy with an awkward obvious twist and there are too many characters to be necessary. The physical comedy can also be overdone. As a side note, the bloopers on the DVD are some of the finest you will ever see, which are almost half an hour long. This comedy drama has Simon Pegg on shining form again and with the collective approach to story telling and sharp comedy, it is worth watching.

I had fun watching this movie, mainly due to Simon Pegg, who has quickly become a solid box office draw for comedy films. He is hired from his dead end London publishing job by big shot NYC media mogul Jeff Bridges, as a writer, for one of his celebrity rags. After paying his dues, he makes it into the higher echelons of celebrity writing hackdom (the "seventh room"), where he gets to be a minor celebrity himself. The storyline is very funny, and Gillian Anderson puts in an impressive supporting role as a cutthroat publicity agent. Along the way to success, he finds the true meaning of love, etc. The formulaic plot aside, the movie was very funny, mainly due to Simon Pegg, Jeff Bridges, and Gillian Anderson. Kirsten Dunst was good as the love interest. The rest of the supporting cast did its job well. This was a good comedy & well worth checking out at the theaters.

I am such a huge fan of Simon Pegg, I really love this guy, he is such a great comedic actor and has so much potential, but what is with How to Lose Friends & Alienate People? How did he get this mediocre script? Now granted, I'm going to give this movie a little credit, it's better than most romantic comedies, but I'm just so sadly disappointed with this movie. I was so excited to see it because from the trailer it looked incredibly funny, but you know those movies where all the funny parts are shown in the trailer, then you see the movie and the rest of the film just doesn't get you like the trailer did? That's How to Lose Friends & Alienate People in a nutshell. Simon Pegg is funny, but for some reason he seems more forced than usual in this movie and his chemistry with Kirsten Dunst is off. While there are some funny moments, this is not the laugh out loud comedy I was expecting. Sydney Young has always dreamed of rubbing elbows with the big time celebrities, he has a job as a celebrity journalist, but he's not exactly well known, so he's constantly thrown out of the parties and award shows. He is offered a job at Sharp's Magazine in New York City, but he's not having the easiest time being accepted by his peers. They think he's a creep, a loser, a low life, etc. But with the help of sarcastic journalist, Alison Olsen, Sydney is soon rubbing his elbows with the rich and famous hoping to date the gorgeous new hot actress, Sophie Maes. How to Lose Friends & Alienate People didn't do well here in the U.S. and I think because it didn't receive the proper publicity. Simon Pegg needs to make one movie that is really going to stand out here in the U.S. that will give him the proper push into a great leading man around the world. Kirsten doesn't look like she really enjoyed making this film and I think that's what threw her and Simon off, she seemed as forced as Simon, so this film didn't really work. There are a couple laughs here and there, but nothing to really get excited about, so I'm just going to say if you want to still see this movie, I'd recommend just doing a rental, it's a basic romantic comedy, just nothing too special. 5/10