How to Lose Friends & Alienate People (2008)

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".

Director:

Robert B. Weide

Writers:

Peter Straughan (screenplay), Toby Young (book)

Stars:

Kelan Pannell, Simon Pegg, Megan Fox

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Kelan Pannell	...	Young Sidney
Janette Scott	...	Sidney's Mother
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	...	Herself
John Lightbody	...	Assistant Hotel Manager
Ian Bonar	...	Post Modern Review Staff
James Corden	...	Post Modern Review Staff
Fenella Woolgar	...	Post Modern Review Staff
Chris O'Dowd	...	Post Modern Review Staff

Storyline

Sidney Young is a disillusioned intellectual who both adores and despises the world of celebrity, fame and glamor. His alternative magazine, "Post Modern Review", pokes fun at the media obsessed stars and bucks trends, and so when Young is offered a job at the diametrically opposed conservative New York based "Sharps" magazine it's something of a shock! It seems "Sharps" editor Clayton Harding is amused by Young's disruption of a post-BAFTA party with a pig posing as Babe. Thus begins Sidney's descent into success - his gradual move from derided outsider to confidante of starlet Sophie Maes. Initially helping him out at Sharps is colleague Alison Olsen, who has her own secret. Wither their friendship?

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Plot Keywords:

writer | pig | starlet | celebrity | party | 

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Taglines:

He's across the pond, and out of his depth

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Genres:

Comedy | Drama | Romance

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

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

Details

Official Sites:

Official site [United Kingdom] Official site [United States]

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Release Date:

3 October 2008 (USA)

Also Known As:

Comment perdre ses amis et se mettre tout le monde à dos

Filming Locations:

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

Box Office

Budget:

$27,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend:

£1,154,607 (UK) (3 October 2008)

Gross:

$2,775,593 (USA) (5 December 2008)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Number 9 Films, Film4, Intandem Films

Technical Specs

Runtime:

110 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital DTS

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

More Lewbowski references: The character played by Kirsten Dunst comes from Port Huron, Michigan. In The Big Lebowski, the Dude is the co-author of the radical Port Huron Statement from the 1960s.

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Goofs

When we first meet Sophie Maes (Megan Fox), she says she is a vegetarian and would never wear fur, yet we see her at the party towards the end of the movie wearing what looks like a real fur shawl. However, this is most likely a testament to how movie stars sell out their beliefs when they become famous.

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Quotes

Sidney Young: I sent the fish, you know, goldfish in a bowl. Did she get them?
Sophie Maes' Assistant: Yes, but they were dead!
Sidney Young: All of them?
Sophie Maes' Assistant: Yeah, it was kind of shocking actually! Were they dead when you send them?
Sidney Young: No no, who sends people dead fish?
Sophie Maes' Assistant: The Mafia?

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Connections

References The Day of the Jackal (1973)

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Soundtracks

"Enough Love"
Written by Richard Parfitt (uncredited) and Owen Powell (uncredited)
Performed by Duffy
Courtesy of Polydor Records Ltd
Under licence from Universal Music Operations
Publishing Copyright Control

User Reviews

Does exactly what it says on the tin

How To Lose Friends And Alienate People looked like it might be different to the average rom-com we get these days, it looked like it was going to be a smart and satirical look at mainstream Hollywood. It isn't and it wasn't. It's in exactly the same vein as Run Fat Boy Run. I'm not saying that it's a bad film because it isn't and neither is Run Fat Boy Run, but I just felt like I'd seen it all before.

The start was rushed and lacked that flowing feeling. The middle was the best part, with a couple of laugh out loud moments. The end was a walking cliché which came straight from the school of Cameron Crowe (once again not always a bad thing).

Simon Pegg stuck to his normal schtick when he's without Mr. Wright and Mr.Frost, playing the lovable but overall clumsy fish out of water Brit. Jeff Bridges was and still is The Dude so he can do no wrong. Kirsten Dunst stuck to her guns and Megan Fox was thrown in as the so hot at the moment crumpet.

An entertaining film. Not bad. Not great either.