How to Lose Friends & Alienate People Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		4.0
Video		4.5
Audio		4.5
Extras		0.5
Overall		4.0

How to Lose Friends & Alienate People Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Dr. Svet Atanasov February 12, 2017

Robert B. Weide's "How to Lose Friends & Alienate People" (2008) arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of independent distributors Olive Films. The only bonus feature on the disc is an original theatrical trailer for the film. In English, without optional English SDH subtitles for the main feature. Region-A "locked".

The outsider

How to Lose Friends & Alienate People reminded me of the second Crocodile Dundee film. Do you remember Paul Hogan’s character and how he would stick out like a sore thumb after he landed in New York City? Well, the main protagonist in How to Lose Friends & Alienate People comes from England, but his role in it is pretty much the same. He just has a different accent and much bigger vocabulary of dirty words.

Small-time reporter Sidney Young (Pegg) gets the break of his life when the influential editor of Sharps Magazine, Clayton Harding (Jeff Bridges), offers him a job in New York City. Sidney enthusiastically accepts and immediately begins packing his bags. But soon after he lands in the Big Apple Sidney begins to realize that the glamorous world he has been fantasizing and writing about for years is a ruthless jungle that cannot stand anyone that questions the way it likes to function. Around the same time Sidney also becomes the laughing stock of his competitive colleagues. The only exception amongst them is Alison Olsen (Kirsten Dunst), who finds him somewhat amusing because he can’t quite figure out how to properly approach his potential targets, and at times even surprisingly charming because not only he pays attention to what she has to say but also mixes his words unlike any of the guys that she has been seeing.

While trying to please his new boss and fit into the business scene, Sidney unexpectedly falls in love with Alison. Much to his disappointment, however, she reveals to him that she is a lot more interested in rebuilding her relationship with her on-again, off-again boyfriend than starting a new one with him.

The film is based on British journalist Toby Young's novel of the same name which some people seem to like a lot and some people outright hate. I have not read it and cannot tell you if the film accurately chronicles the real Toby Young’s adventures in America. (The little that I know about him is from the Internet and it seems like he really was quite a character and had some pretty wild experiences before he was fired by Vanity Fair).

I can tell you, however, why I enjoyed the film. It is a pretty damn witty farce that targets the utterly ridiculous industry that creates our ‘stars’ and then brainwashes us to idolize them because they are everything that we are not. As absurd as the plot is at times, it just feels awfully good to see the obnoxious British outsider completely jam up the system with his antics and in the process destroy its credibility. I also liked how Sidney and Alison fell in love in a place where I am told very few people do not have a price tag. (By the way, the film seems to confirm this). The long process where they tease each other, test each other’s feelings, and eventually realize that they were meant to be together has some brilliantly scripted moments. It was nice to see that Fellini’s brilliant La Dolce Vita also had a small but important role at the end.

The parts of the film that I disliked the most yet I feel are probably the most believable ones feature Megan Fox’s ambitious young actress Sophie Maes and her publicist played by Gillian Anderson. These are the type of people that would do absolutely anything, even reject their childhood friends and relatives, if they knew that they stood between them and success.

How to Lose Friends & Alienate People Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Presented in its original aspect ratio of 1.85:1, encoded with MPEG-4 AVC and granted a 1080p transfer, Robert Weide's How to Lose Friends & Alienate People arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Olive Films.

There is room for some minor encoding adjustments, but the film already looks very good in high-definition. There are a few areas where light black crush sneaks in, but in terms of depth and clarity the visuals remain consistently pleasing. A lot of the outdoor and well-lit footage from the corporate building looks especially good. The primary colors are stable and there is a very good range of nuances, though I should mention that the entire color scheme favors a distinctively warm appearance. Overall image stability is excellent. All in all, this is a very solid presentation of How to Lose Friends & Alienate People that is guaranteed to please fans of the film. (Note: This is a Region-A "locked" Blu-ray release. Therefore, you must have a native Region-A or Region-Free player in order to access its content).

How to Lose Friends & Alienate People Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

There is only one standard audio track on this Blu-ray release: English DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1. Optional English SDH subtitles are not provided for the main feature.

The film has a fairly active contemporary sound design and there are plenty of segments where the lossless track can be rather impressive. This isn't to imply that you should expect the type of dynamic movement that the big superhero films typically have, but there is plenty of movement and even a few neat surround effects. Rather predictably, the dialog is crystal clean, crisp, and very easy to follow.

How to Lose Friends & Alienate People Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Trailer - original U.S. trailer for How to Lose Friends & Alienate People. In English, not subtitled. (3 min).

How to Lose Friends & Alienate People Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Toby Young's novel How to Lose Friends & Alienate People has been on my radar for quite some time but now I am finally going to pick it up and read it. It would appear that I seriously underestimated him because apparently he really was/is quite the wild character and managed to upset a lot of important people while working for Vanity Fair in New York. Robert Weide's film is based on Young's novel and I thought that it was appropriately over the top yet at the same time surprisingly effective as a romantic comedy. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.