Rama’s SCREEN

This comedy feels dreadful and heavy. I spent more looking at my watch than being entertained by every single slapstick and childish, crude joke that are either okay or downright not funny at all. I don’t blame Simon Peegg who clearly still has the talent to make you chuckle, I blame… the script, the plot, the adaptation. You can count how many times it gets entertaining before you lose count on how many times it gets you bored to death. Not even Megan Fox’s hot body can save this cliche disaster. The only thing bearable is Gillian Anderson’s sharp performance as the cold-hearted publicist.

After disrupting one black-tie event by allowing a wild pig to run rampant, Sidney catches the attention of Clayton Harding (Jeff Bridges), editor of Sharp, and accepts a job with the magazine in New York City. Clayton warns Sidney that he’d better impress and charm everyone he can, if he wants to succeed. Instead, Sidney instantly insults and annoys fellow writer Alison Olsen (Kirsten Dunst). He dares to target the star clients of power publicist Eleanor Johnson (Gillian Anderson). He upsets his direct boss Lawrence Maddox (Danny Huston) and tries to make amends by hiring a stripper to dance for Lawrence during a staff meeting. Sidney, of course, doesn’t stop there, finding creative ways to annoy nearly everyone. His saving graces: a rising, sexy starlet (Megan Fox) develops an odd affection for him, and in time, Alison whose friendship with him might be the only thing saving Sidney from torpedoing his career.

What I hate most about a comedy that fails to be funny is that it obviously tries to slip in some humor here and there, thinking they’d be hilarious and they turn out to be anything but. Now imagine that happening frequently, more and more, one after another and doesn’t seem to end. That’s the kind of torture you feel when you’re watching HOW TO LOSE FRIENDS AND ALIENATE PEOPLE.

For those of you who are easily amused, you’ll find this movie to have some mild laughs here and there but for the most part, it is a pretty weak story. Plus, it’s predictable and it’s been done before. Sure it’s based on the book by Toby Young but in a way it’s also based on other better movies about people who suddenly get to taste fame and fortune they’ve always wanted but give them up in the end for their true love. Jeff Bridge plays the big time magazine editor who sees himself when he as young in the form of Sidney Young played with energy by Simon Pegg. Once again, it’s not necessarily the actors’ fault because Bridges and Pegg themselves literally give their all when it comes to comedic skills and timing. But somehow you just know that whatever they say and do, it just doesn’t tickle your funny bone quite on the target.

It’s sad that the movie even has to settle for animal cruelty joke and rely too much on Megan’s sex appeal just to get some cheap thrilles.
One thing is definitely lacking is the chemistry between Pegg’s character and Kirsten Dunst’s character,… even when you’re suposed to feel warm and fuzzy about their romance and their kiss, what you get instead is an odd couple that’s just… odd.
Not to mention the runtime is way too long for a roadkill like this.

Like I said, earlier, to me, probably the only aspect that stands out is Gillian Anderson’s performance. Seriously, she’s very underappreciated. If I were every Academy Award member, I’d give her a best supporting actress nomination for this one and a best lead actress nomination for X-Files 2.
Overall, if you’re a big fan of Simon Pegg, please don’t keep your hopes up because HOW TO LOSE FRIENDS AND ALIENATE PEOPLE is way, way, way far different from from Hot Fuzz, Shaun of the Dead, and Run Fatboy Run. This is the kind of movie that makes you feel sorry for the actors for being involved in this gig in the first place.
This one should’ve been called How to Lose Your Audience and Alienate Your Fans.

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