Simon Pegg provides a good laugh in How to Lose Friends
Lauren Kimmich
Issue date: 10/7/08 Section: Arts & Society
How To Lose Friends and Alienate People, based on the memoir by Toby Young, follows a socially awkward yet entertaining Brit, Sidney Young (Simon Pegg), as he adjusts from life as a small-time journalist in London to his career at a large corporate magazine in New York City.
When editor of Sharps magazine Clayton Harding (Jeff Bridges) witnesses one of Sidney's debacles at a black-tie event, he takes interest and immediately invites him to work for his big time celebrity gossip magazine in New York.
Always quite adept at making first impressions, Sidney tarnishes his reputation wherever he goes.
Sidney makes just about as many mistakes as he possibly can during his time at Sharps, proving himself to be a bumbling idiot with a sophisticated accent.
His co-worker, Alison Olsen (Kirstin Dunst), is disgusted by his attempts to pursue her and is often in charge of repairing the trail of damage that he leaves wherever he goes.
Their exchanges are entertaining, as his wacky personality clashes with her seemingly straight-edged, cynical nature.
After several failed attempts at wooing Alison and a great deal of blundering on the job, Sidney immerses himself in his career and rises to the top, where he falls head over heels for the high life and the smoldering celebrity Sophie Maes (Megan Fox).
Eventually, Simon realizes that the glamorized world of Hollywood is everything that he despises and that fame and fortune is not all that it appears to be.
Likewise, Alison exposes the true nature of her humble background to Sidney and that she is, in fact, not content with her fast-paced New York City life.
Suddenly, their lives come to a crashing halt, which allows them to re-evaluate everything. In yet another humorous debacle that seals his fate, Sidney finally makes his true beliefs known to all of Hollywood.
Only after both Sidney and Alison hit rock-bottom do they realize their misguided pursuits and begin to realize the importance of remaining genuine amidst a corrupt society with an ignored set of values.
When editor of Sharps magazine Clayton Harding (Jeff Bridges) witnesses one of Sidney's debacles at a black-tie event, he takes interest and immediately invites him to work for his big time celebrity gossip magazine in New York.
Always quite adept at making first impressions, Sidney tarnishes his reputation wherever he goes.
Sidney makes just about as many mistakes as he possibly can during his time at Sharps, proving himself to be a bumbling idiot with a sophisticated accent.
His co-worker, Alison Olsen (Kirstin Dunst), is disgusted by his attempts to pursue her and is often in charge of repairing the trail of damage that he leaves wherever he goes.
Their exchanges are entertaining, as his wacky personality clashes with her seemingly straight-edged, cynical nature.
After several failed attempts at wooing Alison and a great deal of blundering on the job, Sidney immerses himself in his career and rises to the top, where he falls head over heels for the high life and the smoldering celebrity Sophie Maes (Megan Fox).
Eventually, Simon realizes that the glamorized world of Hollywood is everything that he despises and that fame and fortune is not all that it appears to be.
Likewise, Alison exposes the true nature of her humble background to Sidney and that she is, in fact, not content with her fast-paced New York City life.
Suddenly, their lives come to a crashing halt, which allows them to re-evaluate everything. In yet another humorous debacle that seals his fate, Sidney finally makes his true beliefs known to all of Hollywood.
Only after both Sidney and Alison hit rock-bottom do they realize their misguided pursuits and begin to realize the importance of remaining genuine amidst a corrupt society with an ignored set of values.
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