If a director can grab that note in the monotonous ordeal of a comedy budding into romance, then it can be an easy deal forgiving the pretentiousness and the absurdity following through the end. What is that note is the curious question which is an ethereal circulation in the heads of the lead. Here it is director Robert B. Weide with Simon Pegg and Kirsten Dunst along with Jeff Bridges in the book by Toby Young of the same name as film rises up called “How to Lose Friends and Alienate People”. Yes it is a mock up on Dale Carnegie’s book “How to Win Friends and Influence People” which I have not read but heard a lot from my friend and he still has not won my friend ship (No offense, naah who am I kidding).It follows a British journalist Sidney Young (Simon Pegg) striking a discordant chord working in his charm when in a moment of old flair the head of New York’s magazine “Sharp”, Clayton Harding (Jeff Bridges) hires him. Young has a way with people and that is to not have a filter between his brain and mouth. He is being despised which he is aware of and does not think about much though in the midst of his screw ups. He immediately acquaints in a bad note with a colleague of him, Allison (Kirsten Dunst) and he takes on the world of celebrity journalism. His aspiration is to be inside the glamour fair of Hollywood and the prize would be to with this upcoming knock out Sophie Maes (Megan Foxx) with an influencing publicist Eleanor (Gillian Anderson).
In couple of minutes in Sidney’s entry into the New York office, it is puzzlement on his recruitment which gets answered in a manner of that careless but elegant delivery Bridges gives later in the film. The film which is bound to run into this swirl of romance accepts that fact. Hence it concentrates on Young’s candid awkwardness in any ways possible. He single handedly convinces that “Con-Air” is the best movie ever made against Allison’s favourite “La Dolce Vita”. That is a priceless moment. He walks with a target board and he points his finger on the bull’s eye.
If cliché’s need to be picked in the film, we can lose track of it. In spite of it, the film carries a casual light heartedness in an exhibition universe of superficiality at its best. With trademark English smirk and ego, Young tries to win through in the magazine and constantly gets sidelined by the declared evil charming nemesis Lawrence Maddox (Danny Huston). He will be the fall guy and you know it the first time we meet him. I have hated this predictability in many films and stomped on it mercilessly but Pegg cooks something unusual in this chore of mediocrity. And Dunst is a perfect likeable cutie who wants every one to take her seriously and becomes the sane part of the film’s loathsome character of Pegg.
The film takes a quick stop in a believable and impressive moment of Pegg with his writer dad (Bill Paterson). And in the same tempo blossoms the obvious romance between Allison and Sidney. Then it takes a racy pace to finish the knot. The deal with the devil will be there and the redemption in the crucial moment will also be there. The finale of that realization in the most crowded place possible has now become a ritual in the romantic comedy and here it is carried on with the loyal discipline. I was ticked off but some how able to give in to it by not extending.
I wonder at these films. It makes me question the double standards in me. What is it with the “27 Dresses” I hated and made me feel nauseating while this film very much carrying similar emotion managed to bring great laughs and acknowledge the routine in a forgivable manner? It is the invisible note in a brightly lit film is the only thing I could think of. It is a feel of getting that in the order they wanted and in places they wanted. It fits and the team knows some how that tune to perfect it.
These films are not made in the idea of classics but understanding their potential. That becomes the factor of differentiation. It determines their flow and the theme of the film. Out here Simon Pegg and Kirsten Dunst becomes that rightly choice. They are odd couple to prance around and they use that chemistry. English comedians seem to survive on the awkward moments and along with Ricky Gervais, Pegg has joined that league for this year. He is becoming to do lightly roles with a touch of valid seriousness with much conviction. But he is at his best with his buddy Nick Frost and Edgar Wright.
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