At first, the scribe refuses to churn out sycophantic puff pieces, but he soon sells his soul to the media devil, becoming the mirror reflection of the very fame-hungry zombies he used to lampoon with such venom.

Simon Pegg is a most dislikeable anti-hero. He plays Sidney Young, snide editor of Post Modern Review, a sardonic rebuke to celebrity culture cobbled together by a ragtag staff from offices above a London kebab shop. Sidney is stunned when a renowned magazine editor (Jeff Bridges) offers him a correspondent's post on New York lifestyle bible Sharps.

Abandoning London for the Big Apple, Sidney realises his finely-honed sarcasm doesn't wash with the locals, not least department head Lawrence Maddox (Danny Huston) or writer Alison Olsen (Kirsten Dunst).

PR doyenne Eleanor Johnson (Gillian Anderson) is equally unimpressed, and wards him off her client, starlet Sophie Maes (Megan Fox). Sidney is torn between feisty Alison and beautiful-yet-dim Sophie.

Pegg grates from the very first smug grin, making Dunst's undernourished love interest seem even more adorable. Bridges, Huston and company are wasted in thankless supporting roles, while Fox purrs and pouts in a succession of slinky outfits.

How To Lose Friends tries to wring one chuckle out of nothing with a menagerie of characters, who don't possess enough savvy to operate convincingly, shoehorning the characters into a generic romantic comedy, replete with outlandish set-pieces.