Tuesday 12 May 2009

How To Lose Friends And Alienate People (2008)

At a glance:
Devastatingly average dramedy starrin Simon Pegg, Kirsten Dunst, Megan Fox & Jeff Bridges. Even Gillian Anderson is in this. How did they sign on so many decent stars to shoot such a mediocre movie? The story is about a strugglin English writer who gets a tryout at a major entertainment mag in New York and his subsequent adventures in debunkin celeb life while reconcilin it with his personal stands on journalism and other borin stuff.
Bad news on the doorstep:
There's a new fault in mainstream comedy production - I first caught a glimpse of it in Simon Pegg's Hot Fuzz. It's the very blatant dumbin down of English or British humour for worldwide audiences. Some might argue that it's merely removin culture-specific elements of characters of the the words they say - but I'll insist it's a much more menacin evil than that when you consider how Simon Pegg comes off so godawfully artificial in a few roles I've seen. Anyway this movie isn't guilty of that but it still brandishes a totally uninvolvin narrative with some really uneven turns. It doesn't help that Pegg's lead character is a sellout and a loser - we have no reason to like him.
Perennial wonderment:
Why the whole of Christendom thinks that Transformer girl Megan Fox is hot and this writer doesn't. In this movie she's plays a hot starlet who frolicks and prances about in every other scene but I didn't get no rise outta none.
Reminds me of:
The Devil Wears Prada, an infinitely better watch than this uneven movie.
Amacam joker, berapa bintang lu mau kasi?
Two and a half, the customary ratin for mediocrity. I confess I watched this only because of Kirsten Dunst.