geekent’s stuff’n things

Prior to this film’s release I had started to hear about the legend of Toby Young, a particularly bright and obnoxious man with an annoying sense of humour who tried to make a life amongst the glitterati at Vanity Fair, failed, and wrote a book about it, delighting some and angering more. While I never read the book, I knew that a Film 4/Hollywoodization of the book would take it from reality to a quasi-reality with names changed and, more than likely, a softening of Young’s character.

In the film, Simon Pegg plays Young, although Sidney Young, an alternate dimension version of Toby, who is caustic but endearingly so. The film starts with Young weaseling his way into a BAFTA after-party only to get thrown out but not before being photographed in a headlock by Clint Eastwood. He catches the attention of Clayton Harding (Jeff Bridges, beautifully teetering a line between bemused and total aggravation), editor of Sharps Magazine and is shockingly brought to New York, where he’s given virtually little to do. A natural rabblerouser and agitator, Young mucks about the office (hiring a stripper for his immediate editor on “take your daughter to work day”) and somehow doesn’t get fired.

Young relates that he’s always wanted to live amongst the beautiful people, and through Sharps, he’s given the opportunity to, he just has to play ball, particularly by appeasing high-powered PR superbitch Elanor Johnston (a wonderful role for Gillian Anderson). But as much as he wants to be on the inside, it’s evident Young loathes the celebrity lifestyle, and disparages the egos that come along with it. The film plots a course for Young to succumb to the pressures and sit in fame’s sidecar only to discover once inside both the glory and the horrors that await within. Unfortunately the film is sidetracked by a love story featuring a meet cute between Young and Alison Olson (Kirsten Dunst) at a bar who then turns out to be his co-worker, where the romance blossoms in the workplace.

It’s not that Pegg and Dunst don’t have chemistry, and it’s not that there aren’t some rewarding aspects to the rom-com switcheroo, but a really funny, sharp film veers off course halfway through and becomes a predictable (if still entertaining) Hollywood cliche. The journey of the fictitious Young that starts the film is no longer a personal one. All the salient points are made, but this Young realizes them because of love, not on his own moral or intellectual grounding.

The film was directed by Robert Weide whose only other major credits are a host of Curb Your Enthusiasm episodes. Given CYE’s sense of humour, I would have thought Young’s sardonic nature to be a natural fit, but as director he keeps things a little too soft and avoids any real bite.

As I said, it is a funny, entertaining film, but in Pegg’s oeuvre it’s more Run, Fatboy, Run than Hot Fuzz.