Director: Robert B.Weide

Cast: Megan Fox, Simon Pegg, Kirsten Dunst, Jeff Bridges, Gillian Anderson

Rating: 1.5/5

The film feels like a make of a rejected Bean movie script. It’s lifeless, not the least bit entertaining and horribly predictable. You are meant to laugh but you never do. It’s films like these that make you want to support the movement where you decide to pay the price of the ticket after watching the movie.

Essentially an adaptation from Toby Young’s Log, the film highlights the life of Sidney Young (Simon Pegg). A small time British celebrity tracker and journalist, Young is suddenly asked to work at Sharps magazine. This requires him to shift base from the UK to the US. Like a fish out of water, he stumbles and finds it difficult to make the cut.

Soon after, he manages to make it big and the how being the highlight of it all. He rubs shoulders with the stars and ticks off the bosses, life is good but then he needs to figure if it’s all worth it and if pursuing Allison (Kirsten Dunst) is what he ought to be doing.

Seared characters that seem clueless is what this flick essentially offers. Sans a build up, or any interesting moments the film relies heavily on dry humour. Clichéd moments down run the film, it tries earnestly to be this depiction of sorts that Devil Wears Prada was, a highlight into the world of stars, fashion and cunning bosses.

Sadly though there are moments in the film that completely surpass you, not because you don’t understand but because you don’t find it funny. Though the film’s plot is not as predictable as one would expect, the scenes that are joined together to make it are. You know what’s going to happen in each scene for it becomes obvious, like the fate of the star’s dog that is left in the hands of Pegg or the outcome of the interaction between Pegg and Dunst at the party.

While the characters are uninteresting, the manner in which the film flows is not particularly interesting either. Trying hard to be this slapstick, in your face kind of film, it fails to amuse. Having said that there are some great moments the film offers. There is the one odd time you burst out laughing because it is funny, like when Pegg calls up the exhibition gallery to figure out who’s who in a few photographs which is absolutely hilarious. On the plus the film also offers some good chemistry between Dunst and Pegg.

Snappier, wittier and certainly sharper is what the film could have ended up being. Instead it turns out to be this laxative that forces you to walk in and out of the theatre. The editing could have certainly been more crisp and the film shorter. Even visually the film appears cold and nothing spectacular to see. Even as a film that somewhere does revolve around style and glamour, the film is disappointing.

Pegg, who has acted in some rib-tickling films and has done a great job at making us laugh, does rather dimly in this film. His snappy and zesty character seems rather dull. Dunst on the other hand does a good job and is lively. Fox, Anderson and Bridges don’t provide great performances either; they simply act their part but fail to shine. The winner in the film is the chemistry between Pegg and Dunst.

In entirety How To Lose Friends & Alienate People is this bland dish that lacks spice. It’s dry and not the kind of film you ought to be shelling out money on at the theatres. Watch this film on DVD when it comes!