PATC review: How to Lose Friends and Alienate People

How to Lose Friends & Alienate People - 15

Toby Young’s memoir of his time at Vanity Fair in New York has been condensed and fictionalised and generally rejigged in its journey to the screen. Simon Pegg stars as “Sidney Young”, an obnoxious British journalist headhunted by legendary magazine editor Jeff Bridges to go to New York to write for Sharps magazine. As the title suggests, once he gets there Young manages to offend just about every human being he meets, including nice colleague Kirsten Dunst, nasty journo Danny Huston, publicist to the stars Gillian Anderson and vapid starlet Megan Fox.

Pegg is fun as always, and must now be officially Britain’s hardest-working comic actor, but unlike the real Toby Young he never seems to realise exactly why everyone hates him. It’s hard to believe this character could turn around and write a bestselling memoir about his shortcomings as he wouldn’t realise that’s what they were.

What’s more, as jaw-droppingly awful as his antics are, their impact is somewhat diluted by the rigorous efforts to disassociate any of the characters from the real people they’re based on. While there are occasional references to Brad Pitt or Orlando Bloom, and Pegg’s Run Fatboy Run co-star Thandie Newton has an amusing cameo as herself, what’s striking is that the film’s makers seem so determined NOT to alienate any Hollywood or Broadway names.

Then again there are some very funny slapstick moments, and at least one line of dialogue that got such a big laugh at the screening I went to that the next minute of dialogue was completely inaudible. As a satire of New York magazines it’s not this year’s The Devil Wears Prada, but it’ll certainly work for now.

BY FILM CRITIC MATTHEW PERRY