Although it was released throughout much of the rest of the world mid-2013, and won’t be released in the US until April 4th, Time Warner Cable is currently offering – and promoting heavily – Steve Coogan’s Alan Partridge (re-named from Alan Partridge: Alpha Papa) on VOD, presumably to cash in on Philomena’s massive surprise sweep at the Oscars. Alan Partridge is nothing like Philomena.
Although it was released throughout much of the rest of the world mid-2013, and won’t be released in the US until April 4th, Time Warner Cable is currently offering – and promoting heavily – Steve Coogan’s Alan Partridge (re-named from Alan Partridge: Alpha Papa) on VOD, presumably to cash in on Philomena’s massive surprise sweep at the Oscars. Alan Partridge is nothing like Philomena.
Don’t know Alan Partridge? If so you’re in for a huge comedy nerd treat. If Steve Coogan is a Warholian genius, Alan Partridge is his Campbell’s Soup Cans. Alan’s come and gone over the years – deliberately, in and around Coogan’s non-Partridge schedule – and has never had a real presence in the US unless you were to go looking for him. So here’s the deal: Partridge may not be the longest-running comic creation of all time, but he’s up there for crossing the most genres. He was born on the BBC4 comedic radio program On The Hour, moved into the ensemble of television news spoof The Day Today, then took on his own (fake) chat show, Knowing Me Knowing You in 1995. In 1997, and again in 2002, he was the centre of a one-camera half-hour sitcom, I’m Alan Partridge. In 2010 he returned in a series of webisodes called Mid Morning Matters and in 2012 there was an hour-long mockumentary / travelogue called Welcome to the Places of My Life.
All of these are bloody hilarious, and Partridge is one of the great comic creations, played by one of the great comedic actors. He’s way too intricate to be described pithily, but it’s enough to say he’s now in his mid-fifties and remains parochial, conservative, extremely “British,” self-important but insecure, arrogant, and occasionally aggressive, but not without at least some sense of decency and respect for others. There are media personalities all over the world just like him.
There were a few ways that a proper, big-screen Alan Partridge feature film could have gone. Divorced and commitment-shy, we could have been treated to an Alan Partridge rom-com, where he finally finds true love. We could have had a workplace conflict, with Partridge’s old-fashioned ways coming into conflict with new trends, styles, or management. Or we could have Partridge thrown into a completely different genre, such as an action movie.
Righteously, we get all three, although the emphasis is on the last of those scenarios. While facing new management and a restructuring at Partridge’s radio station, North Norfolk Digital, a redundant employee returns with a gun and causes a siege, complete with cops and crowds (there are many quick sight gags referencing Dog Day Afternoon). Alan is caught in the thick of it, being, in a perfect example of the character’s inevitable predicaments, both the gunman’s only trusted spokesperson and the Judas who got him fired in the first place.
There are more laughs-out-loud per minute in Alan Partridge than any film since This Is The End. Coogan is at the top of his game and knows this character beyond intimately, giving a consummate performance. Many characters and actors from previous Partridge incarnations show up and there are heaps of nods to the entire back story, but you can go in a complete novice and have a great time. But why would you? Bone up on as much Partridge as you can first, particularly I’m Alan Partridge. It’s all good, and the movie’s bloody terrific.
