First off I should say that I haven't read the book so my comments are based purely on the movie. Secondly I'm a huge fan of Simon Pegg. Thirdly any film that stars Kirsten Dunst, Megan Fox AND Gillian Anderson, three of my favourite women ever is going to be a winner in my book. So if you're expecting an unbiased opinion you should probably look else where.
The film is based (probably somewhat loosely) on Toby Youngs memior of the same name where in he details moving from England to work on a glossy magazine in America. I say loosely cos the film has been re-imagined as something of a rom com.
It's very heavy on the 'com' part though and maitains a very high laugh ratio all the way through. Unlike recent comedy efforts it's not based on 'gross out' or 'slacker' humour and while there are comedy set pieces the humour mainly comes from the razor sharp dialogue. I don't know how much input Pegg had in the script or whether they let him ad-lib (I suspect a bit of both consider he get's a Star Wars reference in very early on) but he's absolutely brilliant as the geeky brit abroad through out. Gillian Anderson also deserves a mention for her performance (Sidney Young: "Ah, so you're a publicist?" Eleanor: "I don't like that word" Sidney Young: "Oh, so what should I call you?" Eleanor: "Eleanor") as the ice queen publicist.
The Rom Com bit feels a tiny bit shoe horned in and you do worry that Pegg could be come the Hugh Grant of his day (forever doing the same Brit type role.. substitute geek for fop though obviously) but it's a very funny film. I'm off to buy the book.
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