

Alan Partridge

Someone is trying to kill Alan.
You'll wish it was you.

With great irreverence and aplomb, Steve Coogan's loved BBC character Alan Partridge glides onto the big screen in a caper that is both hilarious and endearing. The character was created over 20 years ago by Armando Iannucci (who wrote the Oscar nominated screenplay for In The Loop), so if that is the kind of humour that presses your buttons, you'll jump for joy in praise of Alan Partridge. It's satirical, quirky and just plain funny with its self-righteous central disc-jock character ready to put both feet in his mouth at the same time, any time. The film's success is largely due to Coogan, who has honed the character like an old friend and who balances the impossible and improbable situations with comic genius. Screenwriters Neil and Rob Gibbons (along with Iannucci) have penned a delicious screenplay, offering unlimited opportunities for their anti-hero to blunder bluff and depict himself as a right boof-head to uproarious results. The brilliance of the film is that it only takes a few minutes to establish the tone, the mood, the setting and the characters. We quickly catch on to Alan's quick wit, offbeat sense of humour and love of self-aggrandisement and note the stark contrast with his sincere, decent Sleepy-Time shift colleague Pat Farrell (Colm Meaney, in fine fettle). The premise is simple: radio station is taken over by new management eager to cut costs. Learning it's either his job of that of Pat's, Alan has no compunction but to preserve his own position; the irony being that Alan becomes the negotiator as the grudge-bearing Pat takes hostages. As Lynn Benfield as Alan's homespun minder, Felicity Montagu displays the power of understatement, as the ridiculous becomes even more so. It's scary, stressful with lots of shouting, Alan tells the media scrum what it's like inside the radio station during the siege. Adding that it's a bit like being married. That's the way the humour goes. The whole scenario is a bit like a comic routine that is superbly done with madcap situations, funny lines and great delivery. The scene when Alan loses his trousers and underpants as he sneaks through a back window and finds himself at the mercy of a press photographer is outrageously funny. Music is used to great effect - not only stretching the comic aspect but adding emotional clout and a sense of crescendo in the closing sequences. If life has been a bit rough on you of late, treat yourself to a dose of laughter with Alan Partridge; it's cheap therapy. Courtesy: Louise Keller, Urban CinefileTo read the 3 1/2 star review of ALAN PARTRIDGE that appeared in The Beat magazine click hereOfficial Trailer

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Directed by: 
Declan Lowney
Running Time: 
Steve Coogan, Colm Meaney, Felicity Montagu, Simon Greenall
Screenplay by: 
