'How To Lose Friends' is nearly wall-to-wall fun

"How To Lose Friends & Alienate People" is three movies in one.

For starters, it's a hilarious ribbing of celebrity journalism -- think "America's Sweethearts," but funny. Then it's a behind-the-scenes expose about pop-culture power -- "The Devil Wears Prada" redone in the film milieu.

Finally, it's a by-the-numbers romantic comedy about a guy and gal who get off on the wrong foot and disappoint each other with their bad dating habits before realizing what all couples in rom-coms eventually realize.

Actually, thanks to Robert B. Weide's direction and Peter Straughan's script, that last piece of the pie isn't so terrible, and besides, two out of three ain't bad.

Brit Simon Pegg ("Hot Fuzz," "Run Fatboy Run") stars in this comedy inspired by Toby Young's memoir. He plays Sidney Young, the dirt-digging mainstay of a grungy London celebrity tabloid. Sidney's writing and his inventive ways of getting close to the glitterati catch the eye of Clayton Harding (Jeff Bridges), the savvy publisher of Sharp's magazine, who imports Sidney to New York.

Sidney quickly learns that celebrity coverage in the Big Apple is a whole different animal (Chihuahua instead of pig, to be exact). Starting at the bottom, he does everything wrong and irritates everyone he meets, including his co-worker, Alison Olsen (Kirsten Dunst), and boss, Lawrence Maddox (Danny Huston).

Instead of tackling their targets, Sharp's writers are supposed to play ball with them, especially queen publicist Eleanor Johnson (Gillian Anderson). Sidney scoffs at Eleanor's power, but he is wowed by her hottest client, actress Sophie Maes (Megan Fox).

Though Sidney is crude, he reveals that he has a good heart. Pegg uses the dichotomy to anchor Sidney's journey, but he never totally abandons his comedic gifts. He makes an endearing mess of a leading man, as usual.

Dunst draws the short straw compared with her co-stars, but she shines in a couple of funny scenes. Bridges has a ball playing the polar opposite of The Dude, and Huston is smugly despicable as Maddox.

Anderson and Fox are the biggest thieves on the screen. Anderson steals all her scenes with icy entitlement. Fox is a sensation as the open-book ingenue Sophie. Not only is she drop-dead gorgeous, but she pulls off Sophie's air-headedness and brashness without falling into caricature.

The wonderful Bill Paterson drops by for some brief character development, and Thandie Newton shows her loyalty to "Fatboy" co-star Pegg with a droll cameo. "How To Lose Friends & Alienate People" is nearly wall-to-wall fun, right up to a raucous gag in the end credits.

Rated R for language, some graphic nudity and brief drug material.

Four stars (out of five)

(Contact Knoxville News Sentinel film critic Betsy Pickle at pickle(at)knews.com.)

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