How to Lose Friends and Alienate People is based on the memoir of the same name by British journalist Toby Young. The story chronicles his failed attempted at becoming a successful contributor at Conde Nast Publications’ Vanity Fair magazine. Though the movie follows a similar storyline, both the names of the magazine and people Young came into contact with during that time were changed for the film adaptation. The filmmakers also concede that some of the content in the film has been fictionalized for dramatic purposes.
Having read and enjoyed Young’s book when it came out back in 2001, I can say he is far more obnoxious and vulgar than the film suggests. While there are some fictionalized moments, the most shocking incidents in the film are apparently true. Young sent a strip-o-gram to the office on “Bring Your Daughter to Work Day” (“a regrettable mistake”). He admits to vomiting on people, ignoring deadlines, offending countless publicists and suggesting offensive stories. Given all that, if director Robert B. Weide (Curb Your Enthusiasm) and screenwriter Peter Straughan didn’t fictionalize some of Young’s memoir they would have faced an NC-17 rating.
Simon Pegg was the perfect choice to play Young; renamed Sidney for the film. When the call comes from Clayton Harding (Jeff Bridges) asking Young to leave his small magazine in London for New York based Sharps magazine, Young barges in like a bat out of hell. Pegg gets to show off some of his outstanding physical comedy skills, as Sidney Young trips, spits food, sets off fire alarms, fails to save a Chihuahua from a falling vase and does several vigorous dance routines.
Young quickly alienates his greasy editor Lawrence Maddox (Danny Huston) and his big time agent, Eleanor Johnson. As Eleanor, Gillian Anderson is wonderfully vicious–cool and refined, brokering access to her biggest talents, all the while looking capable of biting someone’s head off. At the start, Young’s most vocal enemy is his colleague Alison Olsen (Kirsten Dunst). An aspiring novelist, Olsen writes the photo captions for Sharps. She simmers with contempt for Sidney until he comes to her rescue after a bad relationship goes awry.
Though Young initially comes into the Sharps offices vowing to shake things up, he eventually decides to tow the line. Desperate to keep his job and get closer to young actress Sophie Maes (Meghan Fox), Sidney decides to write the puff pieces the magazines want and publicists expect. It’s not until the end of the film that Sidney realizes he doesn’t want to sleep with the young actress and be at the center of the celebrity universe. Instead, he wants to spend his life with the quiet Alison.
Despite the romantic storyline in How to Lose Friends and Alienate People, the best relationship in the movie is the one between Sidney and Clayton. The scenes between the two men account for some of the best work in the film. Despite the fact that Clayton claims to disrespect Sidney, the fact is, the two men understand each other. Young knows that in him Clayton recognizes his own rebellious youth. And Clayton realizes that Young’s abhorrent behavior is just a front for his awe over be so close to the rich and famous.
Bridges and Pegg play off each other very well. Bridges has the look of a man who’s probably still as angry as he was fifteen or twenty years before, he’s just compensated well enough not to show it. The one time he allows himself to break into a big smile–lets us know that somewhere in there still beats the heart of the dude. Pegg in full disaster mode throughout is at his best when caught in Bridges’ crosshairs.
While How to Lose Friends and Alienate People would have been improved with more scenes between Bridges and Pegg, director Robert B. Weide crafted a witty film that provides a bruising look at celebrity culture. The film won’t win any awards but it’s bound to get you laughing. Oh, and if you’re going to check out this out, I recommend you read Toby Young’s book on which it’s based.
Presented in the 1.85:1 aspect ratio, this 1080p transfer is a solid one. Weide used a number of filters on the image throughout the film, resulting in varying in tones. Overall though, colors are bright and vivid. While faces look a tad red on occasion, black levels are sold and consistent. Contrast is good and detail is impressive throughout. A few specks and scratches are evident throughout the print.
The 5.1 English Dolby Digital soundtrack serves the film quite well. Dialogue is clean and clear throughout. Sound dynamics are strong and bass is appropriate when pop music or other music cues kick in. with no distortions to speak of, this track offers no issues and does the job.
English subtitles.
There are no extras.
*Parts of this review appear in a review for an earlier release of this film.
