How to Lose Friends & Alienate People (2008)

User Rating:

6.8/10   

Director:

Robert B. Weide

Writers:

Peter Straughan (screenplay)
Toby Young (book)

Release Date:

3 October 2008 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy | Romance

Tagline:

Brace yourselves, America.

Plot:

A British writer struggles to fit in at a high-profile magazine in New York. Based on Toby Young's memoir "How to Lose Friends & Alienate People".

Plot Keywords:

Party | Writer | Starlet | Celebrity | Pig

Cast

Kelan Pannell	...	Young Sidney Young
Janette Scott	...	Mrs. Young
Simon Pegg	...	Sidney Young
Megan Fox	...	Sophie Maes
Gillian Anderson	...	Eleanor Johnson
Kelly Jo Charge	...	Apollo Awards Presenter
Christian Smith	...	Apollo Awards Guest
Katherine Parkinson	...	PR Woman
Felicity Montagu	...	Clipboard Nazi
Thandie Newton	...	Apollo Awards Guest
John Lightbody	...	Assistant Hotel Manager
Ian Bonar	...	Post Modern Review Staff #1
James Corden	...	Post Modern Review Staff #2
Fenella Woolgar	...	Post Modern Review Staff #3
Chris O'Dowd	...	Post Modern Review Staff #4

MPAA:

Rated R for language, some graphic nudity and brief drug material.

Runtime:

110 min

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital | DTS

Certification:

UK:15 | Ireland:15A | USA:R | South Korea:15 | Australia:M | Netherlands:12 | South Africa:16 | New Zealand:M | Germany:o.Al. | Czech Republic:U | Portugal:M/12 | Sweden:Btl | Singapore:NC-16 | Finland:K-13 | Mexico:B15 | Italy:T

Filming Locations:

Café de Paris, Coventry Street, Soho, London, England, UK

Company:

Number 9 Films

Trivia:

Simon Pegg was approached to play the role of Young back in 2004 for a stage version, but this conflicted with shooting on Shaun of the Dead (2004)

Goofs:

Errors in geography: Sidney's limo drives westbound past B.B. King's but the next shot is of Times Square which is to the east.

Quotes:

Sidney Young: [to his father] You thought Brad Pitt was a cave in Yorkshire.

Movie Connections:

References The Silence of the Lambs (1991)

Soundtrack:

Enough Love

Getting Into The 7th Room

Straughan's adaptation of 'How to Lose Friends & Alienate People' is a charming and funny albeit familiar film. Yes, the story itself isn't anything new to the screen. The film also had potential of being an engaging satire but it remains rather a feel good romantic comedy. I liked the mixture of American and British humour. It is a well executed film that is rushed in the beginning and clichéd in the end. I enjoyed the mid-sections the most. Pegg, yet again, dominates the movie with his comic power. He's simply hysterical even though he isn't very different from his other films. Jeff Bridges is fantastic. A smoking Gillian Anderson is cast against type as the neurotic, stuck-up and arrogant publicist. Kirsten Dunst looks quite cute here and delivers a charming performance. Megan Fox pretty much plays herself. 'How to Lose Friends & Alienate People' has got some hilarious dialogues brilliantly delivered by the actors. It is the comedic sequences that stand out while the romantic scenes and the more dramatic ones feel rather deja-vu. Pegg proves that he can carry a film on his own and 'How to Lose Friends & Alienate People' remains, at the least, highly entertaining.