Starring Simon Pegg, Kirsten Dunst. Written by Peter Straughan, based on the novel by Toby Young. Directed by Robert B Weide. (14A) 109 min. Opens Oct 3.
PR flak-dom gets a gentle slap on the wrist in How to Lose Friends and Alienate People, a would-be scabrous look behind the scenes at a fictional NYC glossy, based on Toby Young’s genuinely scabrous book about the same. Simon Pegg stars as Sidney Young, a cocksure British muckraker given a tryout on this side of the pond by a Graydon Carter-esque publisher (Jeff Bridges). In addition to losing friends and alienating people (including a venal publicist and a glib, Sundance-feted auteur) Sidney charms a chilly co-worker (Kirsten Dunst) and a gorgeous young starlet (Megan Fox) starring in a ludicrous biopic about Mother Teresa.
No prizes for guessing which one our crass but principled hero will ultimately choose, or what this decision will say about the struggle between sincerity and hype. Director Robert B. Weide incorporates footage and motifs from La Dolce Vita in an attempt to give the material some gravitas, but the film doesn’t really cut any deeper than the likes of The Devil Wears Prada. Pegg’s bullshitter-in-the-china-shop act is only intermittently amusing, and he’s poorly matched with Dunst, who does what she can with a dispiritingly conventional part.