Alan Partridge: Alpha Papa

I love Alan Partridge. Great show. Great character. He is a man for the ages... However, all series do not translate well into film, and if you're like me, you're hopeful but hesitant.

Well, I'm happy to say that the film preserves the characters, humor and dynamics of the show. Although in the first fifteen minutes or so I wasn't quite 'sold' that this is the Alan I know, the Alan I've come to love; the film really finds it's stride once the siege starts.

We've seen peevish Alan. We've seen cowardly Alan. It is only now--in this film--that we bear witness to heroic Alan, and I'll be damned if he isn't somewhat, reasonably heroic...

To sum up, the story fits Alan and doesn't venture outside it's station (a lesson that certain secretaries should learn well). It really plays to the series strengths and has some of the best Alan moments we've seen. All of that being said, I'm not sure how those unfamiliar with Alan Partridge will feel about the film, as it does cater to fans of the series for the most part.

While I have a bazillion reviews to my credit here on IMDb, I must tell you up front that I am not the best person to be reviewing this movie. This is because I have never seen the TV series on which this film is based and I am not particularly familiar with Steve Coogan. So, unlike many viewers, this is my first time and I cannot compare the movie with the show.

The film begins with some corporate folks coming to the radio station where Alan (Coogan) works. They are there to make changes and he and the staff are pretty scared. It appears that Alan is the big change and he's going to be let go. But, being a weasel, he manages to focus their attention on someone else--Pat Farrell (Colm Meaney). However, when Pat is instead fired, he loses it and goes on a shooting spree. He also takes a bunch of hostages and it's up to Alan to try to help the police to get the folks out alive. However, being a weasel, he also hopes to gain a lot of attention for himself and thus improve his ratings! In fact, as the film progresses, you really see that this is Partridge's #1 goal.

This movie is a very funny and EXTREMELY dark comedy. Such topics are usually NOT the basis for a comedy and the film manages to tackle a sick topic like this and still make it very watchable. However, at times, the film does have a few lulls--not serious ones but the pacing could have been just a bit better. Worth seeing--especially if you like your humor pitch black in tone.

Although comedic creations will never get the credit given to dramatic ones, I do consider Alan Partridge to be one of the finest modern characters because of how well developed he is internally and how well Coogan gets him. Partidge is an awful person but he is a normal one at the same time, which makes him all the more realistic in his actions. As a character he is never better than when we are closest to him, to see and appreciate his motives and his feelings – all of which are funny in their awful ways. The problem with this film then, is that we don't get that close often enough because there is a bigger plot to serve and move things forward.

This plot does still produce an engaging story but the film is best in its smaller, awkward moments where Alan's bravado crumbles into reality ("I never knew my mother either") or his selfish, egotistical self comes out in the smallest gestures (his dawning horror when he struggles to find himself on television is brilliant). The film has just about enough of these to work as a Partridge film but not quite enough to make it a great film, instead it is an amusing cinematic outing for a great character, but it is still hard not to feel a little disappointed with that.

The cast are pretty great though. Coogan himself deserved more smaller moments to let his character shine, but whenever he gets them he makes the most of them and is refreshingly free of worry of his own image. Meaney is really good but doesn't overplay or get in Coogan's way. Tim Key, Montagu and others all provide good support, but Coogan is the whole deal and all is well when the focus is on him.

Alpha Papa isn't as great as it could have been and it certainly will not challenge the TV shows for quality, but it is a solid film version, albeit one that is best when it shuns the film narrative and gets close to the human monster of Alan Partridge.

When I first discovered the premise of Alan Partridge: Alpha Papa, which is a siege of the North Norfolk Digital building by a disgruntled former employee, I was concerned that, like many big screen adaptations, Alan Partridge was departing from its humble, unspectacular roots.

By half way into the film, my concerns had unfortunately been confirmed. There are gun shots, fire-extinguishers to the face, explosions, armed policeman; it is by no means an action film, but since when was there such commotion in Alan's life?

It was the desperate loneliness, alienation and banality of Alan's life in the original TV series that made audiences laugh and cringe while pitying and sometimes despising the pathetic central character. When I got home completely deflated after watching Alpha Papa, I reminded myself of just how good Alan could be by watching YouTube clips of the 1997 series.

A single five minute scene of Alan attending a funeral captured the essence of the character. The dialogue is so rich, almost every line provided a laugh and I was cringing at Alan's complete and utter social ineptitude. Throughout the series you learn Alan's behaviour, it doesn't take one long to know when Alan has an agenda; he is so self-centred, immature and incredibly tactless that the viewer can read him like a book. It's both amusing and toe-curlingly embarrassing to see Alan converse with people and deal with his many problems.

All of the subtlety and character study is missing in the film. Alan is no longer a sad-man, a complete liability. He's still cringe-worthy, particularly in scenes where he attempts to court a colleague, but none of the gags even scrape the surface of the programme's brilliance.

The gags are really quite tired. They're predictable and rehashed, particularly scenes that initially appear melodramatic but are then abruptly interrupted by an action or one-liner like a needle scratching across vinyl. There's also a genre-aware armed stand-off scene towards the end where the characters have 'humourous', flippant exchanges despite the immediate danger in an 'In Bruges' fashion, only not funny. More than once I found myself sighing with disappointment and embarrassment at just how off-the-mark and rehashed the comedy was.

Just like the film's premise, Coogan's performance is overblown, he needed to reel himself in. There would be flashes of classic Partridge, but generally both the dialogue and slapstick comedy just died. I commend Coogan's skill for miming perfectly to Roachford's 'Cuddly Toy', however it just wasn't as funny as his air bass performance of Gary Numan's 'Music for Chameleons' in the second series. Also, Alan doesn't look right in the film. His appearance is still demonstrably uncool, however he isn't as awfully square and repellent as he was in the series. If anything, Alan's ageing process seems to be in reverse.

The two principal characters of the programme, Lynn, Alan's devoted and criminally underpaid secretary, and Michael, Alan's good natured friend, seldom appear in the film. These characters were crucial in the series as they revealed many facets of Alan's personality, exposing just how self-absorbed and manipulative he is whilst also showing how utterly dependent he is on their attention.

We have the original team of Coogan and Iannucci, however it lacks almost every element that made the series so funny, eminently quotable and re-watchable. It shares very little in common with its televisual sibling, all Alpha Papa has is a caricature of a caricature and a thin, boring siege plot.

Steve Coogan is one funny guy; he really is funny. He has this quirky sense of humour that is rare. His comedy can range from dry to outrageous. And in regards to this film you see all the variations. It's almost constant; one liners, funny voices,crazy faces, witty remarks, smart references.

It is an enjoyable story which shows how something as simple as a dj's grievance over losing his job can create a barrage of laughs.

Yes, it isn't Coogan's best work, but was good to see Alan Partridge in a motion picture. I recommend it to anyone who enjoys a good laugh and doesn't mind a bit of silly comedy.