Keep your friends close
Sidney Young is an independent writer who has been trying to sneak into the film industry for some time. He, in fact, does sneak into parties and get scoops on celebrities. He also tries to mingle and be one of them, but the problem he’s facing is that he isn’t one of them. When Clayton Harding, the managing editor/owner of high-profile New York magazine calls him up to come write, Sidney jumps at the chance. What he soon finds out is that writing is only ten percent of the process, the other ninety percent is kissing a lot of tail and stepping out of the honest writing stereotype.
While shallow in some places, this movie very much carries the exact attitude of the industry of magazines (and pretty much any high-profile industry). There is a lot of backstabbing, using and other nasty things to get people to the top of the ladder. Most people, especially those coming out of college, have never experienced this fast-paced world and may or may not be ready for such a drastic change of affairs that they’re use to in college. Simon Pegg’s character handles this change beautifully. You see him grow from wart on a celebrity’s ass to having cocktails and dinner with high-profile people. It’s not a sudden change either, as his character fights the switch from beginning to end. It’s a glorious transition and something that should be used in classrooms that involve potential jobs that include high-profile elbow rubbing.
The story treats everyone right that is involved, very much so of our main character. What’s even better about the story is that it shows you different views of how this type of life effects the people involved. For example, Jeff Bridges’ character, Clayton Harding, comes off as a very demanding, demeaning boss who has a firm grasp on the magazine he runs. In reality, his character is miserable about where the magazine is going and can’t stand most of the people he works with. His character feeds off the ambition of Sidney and ultimately loves Sidney’s drive, but can’t support it because he’s too embedded. There are many other characters who feed off Pegg’s to tell their story brilliantly within this larger story. This is a sign of a good film.
I have to give some major kudos to Bridges, Pegg, Gillian Anderson and Kirsten Dunst (who plays a perfect friend to Pegg) for their performances. This is nothing short of a fun movie with some really human moments. The players did an excellent job on bringing this film to life. If they hadn’t been on their ‘A’ game, I’m not sure if this story would have been as good as it was.
As unique as the story might be, overall, the typical conclusion for this type of romp is to be expected at the end. You can pretty much guess what’s going to happen to Pegg, but it’s still nice to go through. I thoroughly enjoyed this film and while it doesn’t dive too deep into this industry, it still does show a glimpse of truth for what people going into the magazine/print industry can expect in their lives. Feel free to use this as a training tool.
Features you can’t miss
Well, there’s something lacking here. You get some audio commentary from director Robert Weide and actor Simon Pegg (actually you get two commentaries from said director) and you get a ‘making of’ featurette. That’s all you get. I would have begged for an outtake/gag reel if I was part of the DVD team. There had to be some good stuff coming out of that film.
Oh, well.
