Based on British journalist and former Vanity Fair contributing editor Toby Young’s memoir of the same name, How to Lose Friends & Alienate People is a fictionalized account of the real story, though strangely not for the purpose of exaggerating Young’s already outrageous life story, but to ground it in a reality that’s somewhat relatable.
In the film, he is renamed Sydney Young and is played by Simon Pegg (who does have a passing resemblance to the real Young). It chronicles the very unexpected move by Sharps magazine editor-in-chief Clayton Harding—a thinly veiled portrayal of Vanity Fair editor-in-chief Graydon Carter as played by Jeff Bridges—to snatch Sydney from his snarky low circulation tabloid and put him to work on the far more prestigious Sharps (how prestigious? Well, just think… er, Vanity Fair) out of a sense of nostalgia for Harding’s own old days as the editor of a satirical mag very similar to Sydney’s. Though he starts off antagonizing everyone and refusing to play ball writing fluff pieces, he soon predictably succumbs to the system out of a desire to “make it” in the United States.
All this is true to life, an experience Toby Young did go through. The film recreates much his exploits during the Vanity Fair years and it’s the nasty stuff like hiring a stripper for his boss on Take Our Daughters to Work Day that’s true. The memoir isn’t exactly a story to root for, so how do you make a likable comedy out of the life of a self-proclaimed loathsome cretin? Two things.
1) You turn it into a typical and predictable romantic comedy by adding a saucy love interest (Kirsten Dunst) that the fake Young would realize the error of his ways for. People love that.
2) You cast Simon Pegg as the loathsome cretin.
How to Lose Friends… isn’t the usual Simon Pegg movie we’ve come to love. It’s not even Run, Fatboy, Run. This is a crasser, much more mean-spirited material that’s beneath Pegg. You’d almost half-expect him to magically transform into Dane Cook halfway through. Nevertheless, Pegg’s natural charm does make the character’s despicable acts easier to swallow. What’s unfortunate is that for a character who’s supposed saving grace is his sassy wit, the film rarely displays any, opting instead for unfunny slapstick gaffes and getting Sydney to grab a transvestite's penis. Though very easily compared to The Devil Wears Prada, How to Lose Friends & Alienate People has none of Prada’s eccentric presentation of a cutthroat high society magazine publishing and an inexperienced protagonist fighting through it. This is just one of those idiot-on-the-loose movie. Even the nice round of cast doesn’t really impress, save for maybe Megan Fox’s ditzy act as a sexy up-and-coming starlet.
It’s much funnier when it’s lampooning the workplace and revealing the relationship between a powerful magazine like that and the Hollywood elite than it is when it’s portraying Sydney’s failure in picking up women and such. In the hands of another, as a satiric tale of a man losing his perspective and revealing the dirty tricks involved in influencing public opinion, Toby Young’s story could have something substantial to say about the publishing world. Transformed into a gutless romantic comedy with the same old relationship dynamic and the same old tired jokes? It’s way too long, too self-indulgent and grossly overstays its welcome.
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October 05, 2008,
Saul Berenbaum
said:
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I did like the film more than you, Ar, perhaps a lot more. But I do agree with many of your sentiments. Si saves it big time for me, but then, he always does, doesn't he? |
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Votes: +0 |
