Went to see How to Lose Friends & Alienate People yesterday. It was that or Nick & Norah, and I didn't feel like going to see a movie during which I would start to feel uncomfortably old, no matter how clever it is. I went with absolutely no expectations. I went alone (as the Husband is sick as a...). I went because I haven't been out of my freaking house except to go to work all week. And because one of the few theaters showing it is a mere 5 minutes from my house.
Oh, and, Simon Pegg.
I don't know if this is a review or just an explanation of an experience or simply me gushing once again about a subject I never seem to tire of. So I'll start with the movie.
HTLF is being marketed in the US as a cross between an Adam Sandler movie and Curb Your Enthusiasm. I am sorry for that, because while it is closer to the latter than the former, I believe it is the former that will keep people away that may actually enjoy what it has to offer. It isn't the most blistering or edgiest of comedies about the blurry lines between print journalism and celebrity. It falls back a little too much on sight gags. It is predictable.
Yet.
It is intelligent, thoughtful, funny, and scorchingly acted. And it makes what I believe to be important statements about the loss of integrity in print media by using a venue that is easily palatable: a predictable, easy on the eyes, and fluffy movie with appealing leads and more to it than US reviewers are giving credit (dead dogs and urinating pigs notwithstanding).
Most importantly, it entertained me on a slow Sunday afternoon after a week of craptacular life events.
I'm not giving a summary of the film, as it is too easy to find one, should you be interested. I am instead going to point out those things which kept me entertained for almost 2 hours in a nearly empty theater.
The acting contributed so much more than I anticipated, I think I would see it again for the beauty of it. Megan Fox, Pegg described as a talented actress and "beautiful geek" (see notes about this later), surprised me the most and how could she not? My previous impression of her consisted mainly of one terrible movie and some shameless sexist self-promotion in Rolling Stone. As such, she is a bit like her character, an up-and-coming ingenue who is engaging in shameless self-promotion in order to keep her name at the top of the list. That she is a lovely young woman is without question. Her beauty is pretty much unparalleled among young actors of her generation. Her acting was surprisingly spot-on. My esteem grew when it occurred to me she wasn't playing a shallow and stupid wannabe, but a shallow and cunning will-be. The transition of this realization, while predictable, was still surprising enough to keep me from feeling I had been hit on the head with a frying pan by its obviousness.
While Gillian Anderson and Jeff Bridges weren't in it enough for my taste, their input was valuable. Both glowed in their respective roles. It was especially gratifying to see Anderson looking fabulous as the ruthless, yet still charming, Eleanor Johnson. And Bridges' wig didn't scream at me with its wigness once.
Kirsten Dunst has been in the business longer than any actor her age. She knows its flaws and foibles as well as anyone. Honestly, I'm fairly ambivalent towards her, but I do respect anyone who has had to play this game for so long and still maintains some integrity by not giving into the whims of Hollywood lookism. She is, in fact, so normal looking in this movie, especially in contrast to everyone else (purposefully done - and to great effect, imo), that I wanted everything for her character. That she plays the aspiring writer who ends up shilling celebrity gossip and falling for - against her better judgement - Pegg's Sidney Young, plays into this normalness very well.
Then there's Simon Pegg, he of the glowing rainbow that forms a pulsating heart-shaped bubble within me. I can't even begin to describe why I love this man so much, but I will attempt to do so for those of you who have not seen his work (and what is wrong with you?).
Recent articles liken him to the next Hugh Grant. Let me set the record straight. Pegg is no more the next Grant, than he is the next Colin Firth, Clive Owen, Jude Law, Ewan McGregor, Daniel Craig, or any other actor who happens to have an accent. He, like all the other actors mentioned, is an entity unto himself who brings his own talents and charisma to the screen with such consistency, I cannot help but be impressed by him.
As an actor, Pegg is highly physical, in that he uses his whole body to convey emotions and reactions, as real people do. With every facial twitch, head jerk, and hand gesture, he is able to project his character's thoughts with such verve, you feel you are watching a real person, and not an actor playing a part. From Angel's stiffness to Tim's slouch, Pegg uses physical action and reaction to add dimension to each character he plays. As such, he exhibits a high level of comfort with his own body that translates so beautifully through the camera that no movement feels scripted. I believe it is this comfort with the very physicality of his acting which gives Pegg an edge of sexiness most American actors lack, and definitely adds to his appeal.
He is credited as being a comic actor, and he is. He has shown in every role he's played a varied range of emotion. He's good at it as well. By-the-book Sergeant Angel moves through the first half of Hot Fuzz with such determination and reserve (and not just a bit of priggishness), we are startled by that first laugh that is almost forced out of him. It pleases us to see the break, so much did we believe this persona was fixed. But it is not just range which tranfixes us, but the seeming improvisational aspect of it, best seen by the constant re-imagining of events undergone by Shaun in Shaun of the Dead. HTLF's Sidney Young is a complex character we feel we should loathe, and yet we don't, because Pegg is able to bring that complexity to light especially when Young is being a complete ass. At those times, we instead simply shake our heads, thinking, "Oh Sidney, why?"
Then there's Simon Pegg the person. Of course, I do not know Pegg at all. I have no idea what truly drives him, what kind of husband he is, what his dreams are. He is - as we all are - an entire universe unto himself with all manner of angels and devils guiding him. What I do see is the person he projects through his interviews and blogs, and the steadfast connections he has formed over the years. For example, in his blogs concerning his travels on the Spaced Invasion tour and for HTLF promotion, Pegg details for his followers the many people he meets along the way. Many are famous, some are not. He uses the same glowing terms to describe all of them. Kirsten Dunst is "lovely" (a common description), he and Zachary Quinto "geeked out together about being in Star Trek," James Franco is a "top fella," and then there's this bit concerning not getting the chance to chat with Mischa Barton at Cannes:
[Who] I wanted to apologize to, after a story appeared in the press, shortly after the National Movie Awards that claimed that me and Nick had made fun of
her. We hadn't and most certainly wouldn't. We have an affection for the OC because Shaun Of The Dead got an honorable mention in Season 2 and lest we forget she was the creepy little puker in The 6th Sense, which in my book gives her real geek kudos. Also, she is pretty.
None of these statements - or the many others similar - tell me a substantive thing about the persons mentioned, but to me speak volumes about Pegg as someone who doesn't mention a person without saying something positive about him or her. One gets the impression he does it not to name drop, but because he is so fucking stoked to meet actors he has watched and enjoyed onscreen. Pegg is first and foremost a movie-loving geek, and in reading his blogs, I also feel he has a deep appreciation for his fans. Added to that, he is intelligent and genuinely funny. Also, he is cute.
In HTLF, Pegg plays a guy who sells his soul to attain his dream. In doing so, he realizes it's not that the dream isn't what it's cracked up to be - because it is everything he ever dreamt it would be - but that it doesn't matter anymore because he has no soul. To me, this is a universal theme that cannot be reiterated enough. I feel I can say with considerable confidence that Simon Pegg is attaining his dream without selling his soul, and we are all winners for it.
