Alan Partridge: Alpha Papa

A fun film, but disappointing. As much as I love Coogan, in this latest installment in the Alan Partridge saga, he's forgotten what made Alan Partridge such a great and amusing character in the TV series of I'm Alan Partridge and Knowing Me Knowing You. While this film is still fun and enjoyable, it's more like watching a new Steve Coogan creation as opposed to the one we know and love. Not a patch on Coogan's The Parole Officer, which is simply hilarious.

B-

I mostly agree. It is not as hilarious as the best Alan Partridge series, perhaps because the character is forced into the relatively strict confines of the hostage/siege storyline. Still, though, I laughed a fair amount, and it is always engaging and spry. An entirely pleasant film, if not the hoped-for home run.

I love it when we agree. :wub69:

I hadn't seen nor heard of the character Alan Patridge before the film, but I can easily say after watching it that it's a character I'd certainly like to revisit. It's easily the funniest film of the year for me. I can't remember the last time I watched a comedy and had to rewind repeatedly during a scene because I was laughing so hard - when Partridge throws the gun on the pier. What makes that scene work so well though is that it also works dramatically. That's kind of the greatness to the film. Despite pretty much being always hilarious, there's always an underlying sense of seriousness and thoughtfulness that keeps the film grounded. Another example would be the duct tape gun holder contraption. It's hilarious to look at, but it's main use is to threaten to blow a man's head off. To state obvious, that's just a little dark. Then again, dark comedy is what the Brits do best.



And a special shout out to the US video distributor for leaving off most of the special features (the commentary especially) from the UK Blu-ray. Thanks fuckface!

Glad you are enjoying it, but not enough Americans are seeing this.

Fun for the most part. The jokes are good, but for the whole run-time the film doesn't keep you interested in what does or doesn't happen to any of the characters. I'd almost call it an average film, but Coogan does have something special which I don't see in films enough. I feel giving it a B is too generous, but it's also still better than most of the stuff in the C range. In the end I had a good enough time watching it for the funny bits that came and went.

B-