How to Lose Friends & Alienate People

  • 15
  • Robert B Weide (2008)
  • UK / Ire
  • 105 min
How to Lose Friends & Alienate People
Film Review
Reviewed By
3 out of 5

British journalist Toby Young found success when he wrote a bestselling book about his failed stint at a New York glossy. This loose adaptation stars Simon Pegg as Sidney Young, who, unlike his real-life counterpart, has a charming silly streak that keeps you grinning even as he snipes at and isolates himself from the American showbiz glitterati. It helps, too, that the stars and their PR wranglers are even bigger egomaniacs than him. That's in stark contrast to Jeff Bridges, who twinkles quietly in the background as the irascible editor of the magazine (based on Vanity Fair), and Kirsten Dunst, who makes a blandly inoffensive love interest. Despite this tacked-on romance, Pegg and director Robert B Weide (TV's Curb Your Enthusiasm) deliver a wickedly funny mix of social and literal slip-ups, which is bound to win over and amuse most people.

Plot Summary

Comedy based on the memoir by Toby Young, starring Simon Pegg and Kirsten Dunst. When ambitious English journalist Sidney Young accepts a job offer at a prestigious New York-based fashion magazine, he believes it will be his passport to a celebrity lifestyle. But his journey across the pond soon leaves him floundering like a fish out of water.

Cast and crew

Cast

Sidney Young
Simon Pegg
Alison Olsen
Kirsten Dunst
Lawrence Maddox
Danny Huston
Eleanor Johnson
Gillian Anderson
Sophie Maes
Megan Fox
Vincent Lepak
Max Minghella
Clayton Harding
Jeff Bridges
Ingrid
Margo Stilley
Richard Young
Bill Paterson
Mrs Kowalski
Miriam Margolyes
PR woman
Katherine Parkinson
Clipboard Nazi
Felicity Montagu
Thandie
Thandie Newton
Post-Modern Review staff member
James Corden
Post-Modern Review staff member
Fenella Woolgar
Post-Modern Review staff member
Chris O'Dowd

Crew

Director
Robert B Weide

Other Information

Language: 
English
Colour
Theatrical distributor: 
Paramount
Guidance: 
Swearing, sexual references and nudity.
Available on DVD and BluRay
Released 3 Oct 2008
Certificate 15
Distributor:
Paramount Home Entertainment (UK)
Categories
Comedy

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