Official Synopsis
Alan finds himself at the center of a siege, when a disgruntled fellow DJ (Colm Meaney) decides to hold their station hostage after learning that he’s getting sacked by the new management.
Studio Canal, with the help of Magnolia Home Entertainment, generally brings some solid BBC material over to the states. This time around they’ve brought over Steve Coogan’s wacky radio DJ, Alan Partridge in his first feature length film. Mainly known for radio spots and television skits, Coogan’s Partridge works brilliantly and seamlessly on the silver screen.
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The film starts with our famous DJ struggling to survive a buyout from a radio mogul named Shape. The company is known for major changes to its radio line-ups and for chewing up/spitting out older DJs that simply don’t have ‘it’ anymore.
Fearing for his own DJ livelihood, Partridge (Coogan) secretly turns against his fellow DJ, Pat Farrell (Colm Meaney), who in turn decides to take the radio station hostage. From this point on the film really shows its true roots from Partridge’s wacky days on radio and television. We go from quick-witted one-liners, that you can only catch if you were paying attention, to physical comedy mixed with one-liners. Sprinkled in-between the funny moments are fearful moments, as the movie firmly reminds us that this is a serious situation where one man has gone whacko because he was given the axe. Thankfully, the movie doesn’t get dragged down during those moments, rather it slaps you in the face and screams ‘laugh, damn you!’ when things get dark.
What’s truly impressive about this movie is how all characters are properly put into motion, how they well they all fit into the scheme of things within this Alan Partridge world, and how no joke is left without some sort of punchline — even if it’s 40 minutes into the film. That last part is key to a good comedy, because everything said in a solid comedy has to come back at some point to rear its head and finish with a punchline. For example, during the opening of the film, Partridge jokingly, but subtly, mentions the usage of safe words during a bondage reference, such as the word ‘Crayfish’. When Farrell takes over the station and gets through the first night with all the hostages, Partridge wakes up screaming ‘Crayfish!’. Great delivery and reminder that no matter the length of time, no comedy goes unfinished. It’s the little things that get tied up during the film that makes the comedy just brilliant.
With a comedy like this you might worry a bit that it possibly gets long in the tooth in some area of the film, and most comedies with such a simplistic storyline generally do stretch things out a bit and lands in a lull. Thankfully, and like most good BBC productions, Alan Partridge has the right amount of story for the time given, and more importantly the right amount of comedy that keeps things moving. It’s difficult to find a good amount of both that don’t feel like a chore for a viewer, but this is a film I could certainly watch again with a group of friends.
It’s a true shame that this film didn’t get more theater presence or marketing, as I’m sure it would have done well. It’s intelligent, witty and enormously funny. I do admit that I had to flip on the subtitles to keep up with the thick british accents (I’m slow like that), but it still ended up hilarious. I wish Coogan would do more over here in the states. The guy’s delivery is absolutely hilarious and perfectly timed. Maybe a Tropic Thunder spin-off? Or possibly a Hamlet 3? Whatever he can do, he just needs to get back over here in more films.
As for the Blu-ray portion of the movie, it’s solid. While the film is tinted in a yellow/blue color for most of the movie, it still doesn’t contain any artifacts or graininess from the transfer to HD. But due to that tint, you won’t get the full spectrum of pretty from the transfer, which is fine in the long run. It doesn’t have any compression issues or color banding, so you’re getting a solid transfer. Enjoy it, especially when it comes to the window scene.
As for the features included, you don’t get an enormous amount, but what you do get is solid. Here is what is coming with this Blu-ray release:
– Making of Alan Partridge
– Behind the Scenes
– AXS TV: A Look at Alan Partridge
I’ve never wanted commentary on a Blu-ray release so badly. Hearing Coogan and crew talk about the filming would have just been icing on the cake with this BD release. As it stands, the features are good, just wish it had just a little extra.
