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How to Lose Friends & Alienate People

How to Lose Friends & Alienate People

Comedy · Romance · Drama · 2008

Sidney Young is a down-on-his-luck journalist. Thanks to a stint involving a pig and a glitzy awards ceremony, Sidney turns his fortunes around, attracting the attention of Clayton Harding, editor of New York-based glossy magazine 'Sharps', and landing the holy grail of journalism jobs. The Brit jets off to the Big Apple and moves from one blunder to the next.

Movie details

How to Lose Friends & Alienate People

“He's across the pond, and out of his depth.”

2008 Comedy · Romance · Drama 1h 50m

Critical arithmetic

One number, for now.

TMDB

6.0 / 10

Community rating

Sidney Young is a down-on-his-luck journalist. Thanks to a stint involving a pig and a glitzy awards ceremony, Sidney turns his fortunes around, attracting the attention of Clayton Harding, editor of New York-based glossy magazine 'Sharps', and landing the holy grail of journalism jobs. The Brit jets off to the Big Apple and moves from one blunder to the next.

CriticWise case file

What this film says about your taste.

Not a recommendation score. A measure of how closely the film’s taste signals resemble yours.

The archetype split

Who fights over How to Lose Friends & Alienate People?

The split comes from the same five-axis model used by the test, not audience ratings or review sentiment.

Taste neighbourhood

Nearby on the taste map.

TMDB supplies the candidates. CriticWise reorders them by craft, strangeness, prestige, emotion, and pace.

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Names above the title

The people responsible.

Directed by

Robert B. Weide

Written by

Peter Straughan

Simon Pegg

Simon Pegg

Sidney Young

Kirsten Dunst

Kirsten Dunst

Alison Olsen

Danny Huston

Danny Huston

Lawrence Maddox

Megan Fox

Megan Fox

Sophie Maes

Jeff Bridges

Jeff Bridges

Clayton Harding

Gillian Anderson

Gillian Anderson

Eleanor Johnson

Max Minghella

Max Minghella

Vincent Lepak

Court is in session

Put How to Lose Friends & Alienate People on trial.

Two incompatible taste archetypes. One film. Read the arguments, then issue a completely binding cultural ruling.

The defence The Sentimental Softie

“Sincerity is not manipulation.”

The film risks embarrassment to make emotion communal, and that openness is harder than fashionable detachment.

The prosecution The Cool Ironist

“The strings are showing.”

Every cue tells you exactly what to feel and when, leaving sentiment to do the work character should have done.