BEFORE: I realize I'm jumping from Big Business to journalism, but I couldn't ignore the "How To manual" connection. Though based on the title alone, it seems like this film might be the polar opposite of last night's movie musical.
THE PLOT: A British writer struggles to fit in at a high-profile magazine in New York.
AFTER: Of course, the title is a play on the famous book "How To WIN Friends and INFLUENCE People", the famous self-help book by Dale Carnegie - and it's based on a book of the same name by Toby Young, British journalist, critic and occasional judge on "Top Chef", when Gail Simmons isn't available. (for a while I confused him with Toby Jones, who played Truman Capote in the film "Infamous" - hmm, Robert Morse also famously played Truman Capote on Broadway, how very random)
This is obviously a thinly-veiled roman a clef of Toby Young's career - the main character here is named SYDNEY Young, and is played by an equally bald Simon Pegg (last seen in "Run, Fatboy, Run"). Toby worked for Vanity Fair, so clearly he was taking notes to turn his pain into art later. Can we assume that his boss "Clayton Harding" is a stand-in for Graydon Carter? Yes, I think we can - that sort of makes this film the male version of "The Devil Wears Prada".
When Sydney arrives in New York to work for "Sharps" magazine, he attempts to bring with him the type of crude humor and hatred of celebrity that got him hired, only to find that his new job wants him to write puff pieces, and articles that build celebrities up, not tear them down. So he rails against the system, pissing off his editor and the head boss, played by Jeff Bridges (last seen in "Iron Man). Bridges plays the slick managing editor as sort of an anti-Lebowski (another character in the film takes over the drinking of White Russians)
Problem is, you can't have it both ways, and be a snarky, sarcastic journalist who trashes celebrities and gets under everyone's skin AND then complain that nothing goes your way and you can't get ahead. Eventually Sydney realizes that he's got to play the game and kiss ass if he wants to get a byline. So this is a film that's on topic, since it's essentially all about office politics.
I paired this with "Crazy People" on a DVD, and that turned out to be a pretty good match - both feature characters who realize their lives are facades, a bunch of lies that they don't want to live any more, and they snap. But it just takes so damn long for Sydney to figure out who he wants to be - so he's an arrogant jerk for the first half of the film, and then a sycophantic tool for most of the second half. How is the audience supposed to like him? I was rooting for Simon Pegg's characters in "Run, Fatboy, Run", and even "Hot Fuzz", but it's a lot more difficult here. Don't just assume that your main character is likable - if you want me to like him, he's got to do something, well, likable.
Also starring Kirsten Dunst (last seen in "Be Kind Rewind"), Danny Huston (last seen in "The Number 23", hmm, I didn't realize he was the son of John Huston...), Megan Fox and Gillian Anderson, with cameos from Thandie Newton (also last seen in "Run, Fatboy Run"), Max Minghella (last seen in "Bee Season"), Daniel Craig (last seen in "Munich") and Kate Winslet.
RATING: 5 out of 10 hors d'oeuvres
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