Simon Pegg’s come a long way from slow-mo ‘hand-gun’ fights in Spaced. His collaborations with Edgar Wright have all been top-notch (the brilliant Shawn Of The Dead, Hot Fuzz and the aforementioned sit-com), Run, Fat Boy, Run was a moderate success, and his turn opposite Martin Freeman in The Good Night is an overlooked gem. Here, he takes on the world of tabloid journalism with How To Lose Friends & Alienate People, based on the book by Toby Young.
Sidney (Pegg) is a London celebrity journalist, scraping by by lampooning the lives of the rich an famous for a small magazine. All this changes, however, when he is hired by Clayton (Jeff Bridges), editor of posh New York lifestyle magazine Sharps. Thinking he has ‘arrived’, Sidney moves to New York only to find his brash ways and rebel attitude don’t work in the world where publicists rule. With only one of his co-workers, Alison (Kirsten Dunst) even talking to him, he must make the decision between playing the game and living the showbiz lifestyle, or keeping his integrity and always being an outsider.
Intended as a The Devil Wears Prada for the celebrity business, the first hour is utter dirge. From the comedy English office (complete with pompous fat writer in a dickie bow) to endless sequences involving Pegg embarrassing himself, sort of like a low-level David Brent meets Mr Bean. After a tirade of trips, falls, spilt food, falling vases and genitalia shots, you find yourself just wishing he’d get the sack to end the pain. Its only when real, grown up issues face Sidney that the film starts to pick up. Success vs happiness, notoriety vs integrity, both are broached towards the end and could’ve done with a lot more screen time. Instead, we get more trips, more falls, zzzzz....
Pegg is clearly making a big push for American stardom, and deservedly so. However, here he’s just nasty. For the most part there’s little to empathise with, and he’s reduced to an amalgam of Norman Wisdom and something out of a Carry On film. It’s hard to explain why Alison should leave her shallow self-obsessed boyfriend for Sidney who, to be honest, is not that different. Kirsten Dunst and Jeff Bridges provide the heart - Dunst as the nice girl in a tough industry, Bridges as the successful sell-out looking to guide Sidney - and are easily the two best things about this film. Fox is pretty funny, and while her role as the shallow fame junkie may be a little near the knuckle, there’s enough tongue-in-cheek humour to get away with it.
Put it this way - if you want a comedy about ‘making it’ in the world of work that’s funny, clever and with a bit of heart, see The Devil Wears Prada. If you want to see Megan Fox in a wet dress and Simon Pegg chasing a pig, see this.
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