HOW TO LOSE FRIENDS AND ALIENATE PEOPLE review

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HOW TO LOSE FRIENDS AND ALIENATE PEOPLE

Review by Gary Dean Murray

Simon Pegg has carved a niche in cinema over the last few years. The co-writer and actor of Shaun of the Dead and Hot Fuzz has made a name for himself by doing over the top roles in great comedies. His last film was the well-received romantic comedy Run, Fat Boy, Run. He takes another stab at the genre with the comedy How to Lose Friends & Alienate People.

Our Mister Pegg plays Simon Young, the publisher and writer for a hard British entertainment rag that takes on all celebrity comers. One day he gets a call from Clayton Harding, the publisher of Sharps magazine one of the flagships of NYC fashion and celebrity life. Simon jumps at the chance to write for the major publication and shake up the universe. Once he gets there, he finds that the world of high magazine publishing is very different from his imagined concept. It is a much more ‘follow the rules’ arena. To help him through the world of Sharps is Alison Olsen (Kirsten Dunst) another cog in the machine. She is repulsed by him on every level, which is cinema short hand on what the ending is going to become.

Simon meets an up-and-coming starlet Sophie (Megan Fox) and she becomes the girl of his dreams. While being the innocent siren, there is this air of cunning that oozes from her every pore. She is looking for good press and not the kind of writing that our man wants to unleash on the public. The film is Simon Young’s downward spiral into our celebrity obsessed culture and how one goes from being on the outside to being on the inside. We see him sell his soul just to be closer to those who are soulless.

Coming across more likeable than what is needed for the part, Simon Pegg Crafts more of a leading man than in his last outing. He is building a winning resume and this is another step to being an American accepted star. Here is a bit of an abrasive individual, not the lovable loser of Run, Fat Boy, Run.

While Jeff Bridges can do no wrong on film, here he plays it very close to the collar. His Clayton Harding never lets on his true emotions about Simon or the situations he puts everyone in. Though he comes across as madden, there is this level of amusement by the antics of his least favorite reporter. It is a love/hate relationship that should have been explored more in the film.

Megan Fox isn’t given much to do other than look perfect and she does it to the nth degree. Her scene of coming out of the pool rivals Ursula in Dr. No. It is past just being a showstopper. Unfortunately, Kirsten Dunst just seems to phone it in for a role that could have been played by any number of actresses working today.

The structure of the film is wildly all over the cinematic map. There are touching scenes, buffered by transvestite jokes, followed by contemplative notes, which come next to a sell-out moment. The film almost is without a clear focus. Director Robert Weide, who is so strong in Curb Your Enthusiasm doesn’t know what to do with his actors or his original source material. Almost as a scattershot, this film hits some funny notes and leaves a bunch of buckshot in its wake.

How to Lose Friends & Alienate People is more along the lines of Run, Fat Boy, Run. Which is to say it is no where close to being as great as Shaun of the Dead or Hot Fuzz. His best work is with his buddy Nick Frost and they should stay a comedy duo.

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