movie review: Alan Partridge

When The Hangover was released in 2009, I remember not only enjoying it, but also admiring it; many comedies are funny, but extremely few are so relentlessly hilarious as The Hangover, in which nearly every line generates a laugh.  I haven't laughed that much since -- but Alan Partridge came pretty damn close.  Even during those rare moments when Alan Partridge didn't have me laughing, I was usually smiling in amused awe at the writers' wit.

As an American largely ignorant of even the most prevalent of British culture, I myself have never heard of Alan Partridge before seeing ads for this movie, although I have since learned that Steve Coogan has been playing the character on and off (mostly on) since 1991, playing Partridge on both radio and television as a fictional talk-show host.

Here, Coogan (who not only stars in the title role, but also helped write the script) re-invents the character as a Norfolk radio disc jockey.  The story is set into motion when Alan's radio station is bought by a media conglomerate, and lay-offs are immediately rumored.  Colm Meaney co-stars as Partridge's co-worker and friend, Pat Farrell, who fears for his job and talks Alan into defending Pat's job to a meeting of the new board of directors.  Initially sincere in his defense of Pat, Alan immediately reverses gears when he learns that the board has already decided that they will keep either Partridge or Farrell, but not both.  He convinces the board to fire Pat, and feels only a glimmer of guilt when his unaware friend thanks him for sticking up for him.

Armed with a shotgun, Pat takes the radio station staff hostage, and demands that Alan act as negotiator between him and the police.  Much of the storyline deals with the fact that Alan finds, to his delight, that his role as both hostage and negotiator has sent his popularity soaring with the general public.  The central issue soon becomes, how much can Partridge milk the situation without endangering the lives of himself and the other hostages?

I don't know if there is a direct influence, but there's a definite element of Billy Wilder's classic dark satire Ace in the Hole, in which that main character, like Alan Partridge here, repeatedly risks both his life and the lives of others in order to turn an honest crisis into a media circus in the hopes of furthering his own career.

This is a very, very funny movie, and as depicted by actor/ writer Coogan, the main character is a brilliant creation.  Alan Partridge is alternately awkward and charming, cowardly and brave, foolish and clever, selfish and selfless -- and yet, ingeniously, despite all of these contradictions, the character never seems inconsistent.  That's because the key to understanding Partridge is that he tries too hard at putting his best foot forward, and so he fails as often as he succeeds.  He and the title character of Henry's Crime (recently reviewed by yours truly, the Movie Man) are the two most interesting, original movie characters I've seen in years.

One final note:  My earlier comparison to The Hangover was meant merely to express the fact that these two are the funniest movies I've seen in many a year.  But note that their comic styles are completely different, and just because you enjoy one doesn't necessarily mean you'll enjoy the other.  Whereas most of The Hangover's humor depends on slapstick and over-the-top manic energy, Alan Partridge largely depends on brilliant word-play and character development.  What both movies have in common is a love of taking their stories in unexpected directions, repeatedly applying a twisted but undeniably clear logic to increasingly absurd situations.  I really, really enjoyed this movie.  I hear a sequel (tentatively titled Who is Alan Partridge?) is already in the works.  Sweet.