Review of How to Lose Friends & Alienate People (2008) by Luke P — 28 Mar 2010

Us Brits have known about the talents of Simon Pegg for many a year, with the genius creation that is Spaced; however it took the success of Shaun of the Dead for the Americans to catch hold of him. How To Lose Friends & Alienate People, along with Run Fatboy Run, sees Pegg get his first starring roles in American films.

Pegg of course is excellent, he can do this type of comedy in his sleep, while he leads an excellent cast featuring Kirsten Dunst, Gillian Anderson, Danny Huston, Megan Fox and the God that is Jeff Bridges.

The film itself however, based on Toby Young's memoir, is a bit of a mess. There are moments of originality and moments of humour, and overall it's very enjoyable. It zips along at a speedy pace and there are enough mishaps and laughs to keep you entertained.

However, it's so tonally inconsistant. It doesn't seem sure what it wants to be. Clever satire? Slapstick comedy? Romantic comedy? It seems to jumble all these elements together into a not quite satisfying whole.

Pegg's character too suffers from a lack of consistancy and, crucially, likeability. He veers from sweetly naive, to ignorant, to arrogant, to idealistic and back again. It makes it hard to really connect with and feel for the character.

That being said, it's entertaining, humorous and features one hell of a cast. Pegg is consistantly funny, Megan Fox has fun sending up her image, Kirsten Dunst is delightful and Jeff Bridges is just the coolest man alive.

It's worth a watch, just don't expect it to linger long in the memory.