Movie review – “How to Lose Friends and Alienate People” (2008) **1/2

Not quite right. A very strong cast but the handling is a bit flabby and the script lacks drive. It needed something to propel the action. Also the relationships with the characters, with the exception of the Kirsten Dunst romance (which worked quite well), are undeveloped – there was more in particular to the Simon Pegg-Jeff Bridges relationship, their connection; plus also it would have benefited from a bit more complexity with Danny Huston and Gillian Anderson’s characters. It feels as though the movie could have been smartened up a bit but they weren’t sure of the tone or where they wanted to pitch the movie. Career boy movie? Rom com? Satire?