Tuesday, November 12, 2013

Alan Partridge: Alpha Papa

Over the years many characters from TV and radio shows have made the leap to the big screen. Not all have been successful but then there is Alan Partridge.
While I am a big fan of Steve Coogan, I must admit that I have not seen very much of one of his most famous characters Alan Partridge. I have seen some clips and episodes of his TV series but for some reason I have not had a very devoted following. But I still really wanted to see this film. I must say I was really impressed with what I saw. Some characters from TV shows have trouble being on the big screen because they still have many of the qualities from the small screen which just don't work on a big one. Thankfully Alan Partridge is a big enough character for the cinema screen. Normally egocentric characters like this do not interest me but Alan is just so incredibly funny and comes out with so many witty one-liners that I was instantly charmed by him. Also part of the problem can be the plot. A hostage situation at a radio station does not automatically come across as big screen material but in the hand of this team of writers it is comedy gold. It was about 8 years ago that I stopped listening to the radio. Before that I would only listen to a comedy show by a comedian I admire named Tony Martin. One of the joys of his show was his constant battles with management over his shows content. Not so much the humour but the fact that they wanted more music and less talk. So when some of these issues came up in this film I was some what amused by the satire but also saddened to see that nothing seems to have changed. Music also  plays a big part in the film and to great comedic effect. Aussies will be pleased to see 'Your The Voice' by John Farnham used brilliantly in one hilarious sequence.
I probably do not need to tell you how great Steve Coogan is in this film. The man has such impeccable comedic timing that just about everything he says is hilarious. Even some of the more cruder jokes and situations are handled brilliantly. Alan is a character which Steve has been playing for so long that he has refined him to perfection. Also excellent is Colm Meany as the hostage taker. While Colm is mostly the straight man to Steve's more outrageous antics he still gets some very funny moments. The biggest delight though is Felicity Montagu as Alan's assistant. Alan may not treat her very well but you can't help but laugh at her.
You do not have to be familiar or even know who Alan Partidge is to get a good laugh out of this film. Just pure joy from start to finish.

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