How to Lose Friends & Alienate People (2008)

A British writer struggles to fit in at a high-profile magazine in New York City.

Director:

Robert B. Weide

Writers:

Peter Straughan (screenplay), Toby Young (book)

Stars:

Simon Pegg, Kirsten Dunst, Megan Fox

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Kelan Pannell	...	Young Sidney
Janette Scott	...	Sidney's Mother (archive footage)
Danny Huston	...	Lawrence Maddox
Simon Pegg	...	Sidney Young
Megan Fox	...	Sophie Maes
Gillian Anderson	...	Eleanor Johnson
Kelly Jo Charge	...	Apollo Awards Presenter
Christian Maier Smith	...	Apollo Awards Guest
Katherine Parkinson	...	PR Woman
Felicity Montagu	...	Clipboard Nazi
Thandiwe Newton	...	Thandie Newton (as Thandie Newton)
John Lightbody	...	Assistant Hotel Manager
Ian Bonar	...	Post Modern Review Staff
James Corden	...	Post Modern Review Staff
Fenella Woolgar	...	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:

co worker | bar | man wears underwear in public | woman wears black lingerie | woman wears underwear in public | 

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Taglines:

The most hilarious comedy of the year.

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Genres:

Biography | Comedy | Drama | Romance

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

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

Did You Know?

Trivia

The book Alison Olsen is reading in the break room when Sidney sits down with her is "Relative Stranger: Piecing Together a Life Plagued by Madness" by Mary Loudon.

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Goofs

At the stately home, the band resumes playing after Sidney Young falls off the top of the stage's wooden frame. In a following shot facing the band, the keyboardist removes his right playing hand from the keyboard placing it in his lap with his left hand prior to the last keyboard chord being played.

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Quotes

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

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Connections

Features Black Sabbath (1963)

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Soundtracks

I Love What You Do
Written by Ian Mack, Ashley Jonathan Mark Alexander, Simon Darlow
Performed by Electrovamp
Courtesy of Universal-Island Records Ltd
Under licence from Universal Music Operations
Published by Right Bank Music UK Ltd/Imagem Music Ltd
Produced by Ian Mack & Paul Middleton for Right Bank Productions

User Reviews

Great fun, absorbing and thought provoking. Plenty of fascinating characters.

I was pleasantly surprised to find that How to Lose Friends and Alienate People was nowhere near as 'gross-out' a comedy as the trailer had led me to expect. I rapidly became absorbed in the unfolding of the narrative and remained engrossed throughout. Pacing of the more visual humorous content was, I thought, spot on. (I mean I got the impression I was witnessing Pegg's attempts at restoring lost control very much 'in real time', so to speak.) At other moments there was time allowed to share the main protagonists' (i.e. Pegg's and Dunst's) reflection on how events were affecting them and what had led them to where they now found themselves. All the characters were well cast, to some extent interesting in and of themselves, and generally quite likable. (Any apparent ruthless ambition displayed tended to be tempered by a corresponding good natured resilience.) An entertaining, intelligently scripted, brilliantly directed and superbly acted film that I would thoroughly recommend.

Details

Official Sites:

Official site [UK] Official site [United States]

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Release Date:

3 October 2008 (USA)

Also Known As:

How to Lose Friends & Alienate People

Filming Locations:

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

Box Office

Budget:

$28,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$1,430,294, 5 October 2008

Gross USA:

$2,778,752

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$19,152,009

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