Film Reviews

How To Lose Friends And Alienate People

• Rating:
• Director: Robert B. Weide
• Starring: Gillian Anderson
• Details: UK / 110mins/ (15A)

Loosely based on the memoirs of Toby Young, Simon Pegg plays a slightly more congenial version of the utterly pompous former magazine editor (renamed Sidney here), who had the chance of a lifetime by bagging a job as a contributor to Vanity Fair. In the cinematic outing, the magazine is called Sharps, and his editor is played by a scene-stealing Jeff Bridges. That's not the only liberty that is taken, though, as in this fictionalised version Sidney also gets to schmooze Transformers star Megan Fox (playing a thick-as-shit actress) and the ponderous, but pretty Alison (Dunst) - despite the seemingly purposeful incompetence he displays on a regular basis. He bags the job, we're led to believe, because Bridges' experienced editor sees something of himself in Sidney. Therefore, he lets him get away with bringing a transsexual stripper to 'take your daughter to work day' and killing a high-profile client's dog. And therein lies a major problem; there's no way anyone would get away with half of the stuff that Sidney does. For the first 45 minutes or so, the character has no redeeming qualities whatsoever, and is hard not to loathe, never mind like. But Pegg admirably persists, and you soon find yourself warming to Sidney - even if you could never actually see yourself speaking to him for a elongated period of time without decking him. Enough laughs are rendered by Pegg, though, and he really does his best here. That said, the direction from Curb Your Enthusiasm regular Weide is surprisingly uneven, and some jokes are obviously missing beats. The plot also has issues, plodding along too slowly at first, then shooting forward with a montage of Pegg grinning (so we know he's finally figured out not to be a complete arse). So it's mess, then, but it also has some genuinely funny moments, as well as a couple of touching ones. Sidney's relationship with his father is moving, if never fully explored, and there's much fun to be had by guessing who the real versions of the celebrities are. You won't love it, but you may be amused.

Review by Mike Sheridan