Review of How to Lose Friends & Alienate People (2008) by Scott C — 20 Mar 2010

Simon Pegg is great, isn't he? If he played Hitler, you'd still like him. He's just innately likeable, even when he's treading water. This isn't vintage Pegg (ie, he didn't write it) but thankfully it's not 'Run Fatboy Run' either. It's an amiable, good-natured romantic comedy that takes an odious prick in real life and crafts a typical Pegg character - bright but deluded, prone to pratfalls and beautifully dysfunctional ramblings. In other words, you root for him - even when he's in the midst of a crushingly predictable narrative. You'll know how this ends very quickly but that's not the point really. The point is to enjoy some genuinely good gags (the best ones tend to involve animals ran amok) and a great supporting cast - Megan 'the future Mrs Black' Fox and Gillian 'Britain's Best MILF' Anderson sexing the screen up, Jeff Bridges (in an underwritten role sadly) and a host of cameos from great British character actors (and bonus points if you can spot Brian Austin Green in a blink & you'll miss moment).

Downsides? Well, for a film trying to make a point about how shallow the world of celebrity is, halfway in it loses any punch/satire it had at the beginning and becomes pretty shallow itself, giving way to a heavy dose of sentimental schmaltz. Had this been made entirely in Britain by someone like Armando Ianucci, fr'instance, it wouldn't have become quite a soppy love story in the last 45 minutes. Soon as that happens, most of the gags dry up and you're killing time until the inevitable. Luckily though, the ride has been fun enough to warrant, if not entirely forgive, the route it takes. So... if you're looking for biting satire, look elsewhere. If you're a big romantic who loves Simon and his most Pegg, look no further. I'm somewhere in between, hence why this gets a THREE.