DIRECTOR: Declan Lowney
CAST: Steve Coogan, Colm Meaney, Felicity Montagu, Simon Greenall, Sean Pertwee, Anna Maxwell Martin, Darren Boyd, Nigel Lindsay, Simon Delaney, Monica Dolan, Tim Key, Paul Blackwell, Phil Cornwell
RUNNING TIME: 90 mins
CERTIFICATE: 15
BASICALLY… When a sacked DJ holds a radio station hostage, it’s up to fellow DJ Alan Partridge (Coogan) to stop things from taking a more violent turn…
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NOW FOR THE REVIEW…
Never one to shy away from the limelight, Alan Partridge has returned to nationwide attention with his first starring role in a major motion picture. And while the transition from TV to radio to film would have proven a worthy obstacle for the once-host of TV chat show Knowing Me Knowing You (which met a quick demise once Alan accidentally shot and killed one of his guests on live TV), he has come through with a smile on his self-satisfied face and a barrel of laughter throughout.
How ironic to think that a gun, the very item which single-handedly destroyed Alan’s career at the BBC, would be at the centre of his grand comeback in the multiplex. Used by distraught DJ Pat Farrell (a sympathetic Colm Meaney) during his takeover of the now corporate-run North Norfolk Digital radio station – swiftly renamed Shape, “the way you want it to be” – the shotgun provides real tension in scenes where he is threatening the hostages or other characters. Anyone could be shot at any minute in this deadly serious situation… and yet, the film is all the more funnier for it.
Putting an established comic character like the narcissistic Partridge in the middle of this crime scene makes way for some inspired moments of comedy. Chosen as the chief negotiator by the police, he sees the opportunity to boost his public profile which becomes more important to him than the safety of Pat’s hostages, and become a hero in the vein of Roger Moore in his favourite movie The Spy Who Loved Me (which he famously acted out the beginning of in an episode of TV series I’m Alan Partridge). This is most evident in a fantasy sequence where Alan “saves the day” thanks to himself and other police officers who look exactly like him (with the names Jason Statham, Jason Bourne, and Jason Argonaut) who all admit that Alan is “pretty cool”. His often rude and cruel personality also extends to the film’s lighter moments, such as when Pat is describing his late wife. Without giving away his priceless reaction to her picture, they also provide great laughs.
Director Declan Lowney’s previous work on classic sitcom Father Ted is evident in the many instances where the film attempts to go Hollywood look unapologetically British. As it would in a normal action film from a big studio, there is a car chase between the antagonist and the police… the twist is that the villain’s vehicle is a slow-moving radio vehicle and the “chase” itself is roughly 5-10mph across the Norfolk town centre and countryside. Perhaps the film’s biggest action set piece, and yet not a single speed law is broken. That is absolutely hilarious, and positively familiar to anyone associated with the big-yet-small scale of Father Ted and, indeed, Alan Partridge himself.
As the film never forgets its British roots, Alan Partridge feels like the same chauvinistic prat we’ve always known him to be which is certified in the film’s welcoming back popular I’m Alan Partridge characters like his long-suffering assistant Lynn (Felicity Montagu) and the confused Geordie Michael (Simon Greenall), the latter of whom gets some of the film’s biggest laughs. But make no mistake, this is Alan Partridge’s film and its success can be summed up in one of his many popular catchphrases: “back of the net!”
SO, TO SUM UP…
No film seems to be more British in spirit than Alan Partridge: Alpha Papa – spot-on comedy, quotable one-liners, good use of its Norfolk location, car chases that abide to traffic laws, and a sort-of heroic lead by a disgraced broadcaster, it’s a hilarious slice of cinema that shares the reigns with The World’s End as one of the funniest films of the year. A-ha, indeed.
