It's almost as if Steve Coogan is daring me not to like him. Despite being a huge fan of Coogan's and good British comedy, I have somehow managed to avoid the hit show "I'm Alan Partridge" and its various spin offs. Thus, going into the new film, Alan Partridge was my first taste of this classic Coogan character.
This is the type of film that made me have a huge smile on my face the entire time I was watching it and made me laugh out loud at least a dozen times. However, when the end credits started rolling, I was glad that the fun was over. The character that Coogan creates is such an unlikable nuisance that 90 minutes with this man is more than enough. This is not just an oblivious character a la "Mr. Bean"---this guy is a borderline psychopath.
In the film, Coogan plays the title character, a mid-morning radio host who convinces the new head honchos to fire Pat Farrell (Colm Meaney) and quickly regrets it as the acts as an in between for the police when Pat takes hostages at one of the radio station's parties. Alan is so incredibly dumb that he actually treats the whole hostage situation as a silly joke. Meanwhile, the police are trying to find out Pat's motivation and stop him from holding the hostages.
This is the kind of humor that shows why Brits are, a lot of the time, significantly funnier than Americans. The film has a fast paced and kinetic energy to it that delivers multiple laughs a minute. This is the type of film that's aware of just how stupid it is and would have it no other way. Also, it's hard to talk about how funny this film is without giving anything away, which is a good thing for a comedy to possess.
Coogan is incredibly loathsome in the title role, which works for the character he is playing but would not have worked for a minute longer. Also, the way in which Meaney plays Pat as a subtle nutcase rather than a full blown, over the top whack job makes that character much funnier than he could have been.
I can't say that Alan Partridge is the type of comedy like Office Space or Shaun Of The Dead that I would love to watch over and over again. Almost everyone in the film is completely unlikable in their own way, which is funny in the context of the film but might not work all that often. However, for my first time seeing Coogan play this embezzle, I had an absolute blast with Alan Partridge and would recommend that anyone who likes good British humor go see it.
(3 and 1/2 out of 5 Stars, The film is rated R for language, brief violence and nudity)
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