BootDigest Such a frustrating disappointment

CommentsXp Best movie ever!

SanEat A film with more than the usual spoiler issues. Talking about it in any detail feels akin to handing you a gift-wrapped present and saying, "I hope you like it -- It's a thriller about a diabolical secret experiment."

Logan By the time the dramatic fireworks start popping off, each one feels earned.

willcundallreview Rating-7/10Alan Partridge: Alpha Papa is a comedy return for Alan and this time he appears on the big screen. The movie is funny, not side splitting kind of humour but the smart jokes and wit more than make up for this with chuckles spread out everywhere. Whether or not this will please fans of Partridge is one thing that is important about this, I believe it will but of course there is only one way to find out, go watch it.Now Steve Coogan not only plays classic old Alan with his legendary remarks and basically the same old stuff we expect(but funnier maybe), he also helps write the script. Yes the film is very well written and I couldn't find much wrong with it to be fair, it may be that the directing or acting slightly makes this drop, but the script has nothing to do with that, it is just so well done and the collaboration on it is fantastic.Now is this film great?, well no not really in my opinion although I did find it a good piece of comedy and one as I mentioned, that should please hardcore fans. It should also very much please those who consider themselves fans of slightly more slick comedy, a more British type of humour in which the jokes are fast and present, but if your not listening you might miss the reference etc. But anyway what I'm trying to say is this is just good and smart, a good mixture overall.A point I very much did like about this is the casting, not necessarily who they chose but I loved that the whole cast are kind of low key and all British and Irish actors usually from TV. It gave this a whole new sense of realistic comedy because you don't always know the actor involved and even if you do not so well so it seems much more original and shows that with the right people behind the helm, any cast can be good.Now a lot of credit goes to Armando Iannucci who comes in again to write this(among others including Coogan) to create that air tight script and bring Partridge to the big screen in a very well done way. Now to be honest the world of DJ's is hardly the most exciting of worlds to explore, but that is what makes this so good, it rips off the cliché way in which radio DJ's do it and then adds a plot like this and mixes it together and makes it just plain funny.Another key to watching this is to hear Partridge out, or even hear Coogan out as sometimes he talks just a little too fast and the voice he puts on is not always the easiest to hear, but if you focus a lot on him, you will laugh your head off. Some of the quick little one two's involved are gold and really show yet again that this character and others can work on the big screen very well indeed.Overall as I have mentioned a good movie overall for me and one although not touching greatness, is still tip-top. It's the kind of movie that for me personally I won't maybe remember it forever or see it as great ever, but still is a piece I could revisit one day because of the evenly laid humour that runs through every single scene of this movie. The big screen does nothing to harm Alan Partridge and I do hope that we can see more not only on TV, but in cinema as well.

Bento de Espinosa There is a problem with this movie: you will watch it probably only because you know the Alan Partridge TV show, but if you know the show, then you won't like this movie so much.It's comedy, but even a comedy must make some sense in order to be funny. The silliness of this story is so big, it overshadows the few jokes and since almost everything happens at just one place, it really drags.I don't get it: why not make a good movie using the successful concept of the original TV series, which made Alan Partridge and Steve Coogan so famous, with Alan as a TV host, interpolated with some moments of his private life? This should be done while Steve still isn't too "old" for that.

Roland E. Zwick A familiar face in Britain but a virtual unknown in the States, comedian Steve Coogan has made his name in his home country portraying a fictional radio talk show host by the name of Alan Partridge. Since 1991, Coogan has performed his act on both radio and TV, and now he's branched out to his first feature-length movie entitled "Alan Partridge: Alpha Papa" (just "Alan Partridge" in the United States).In the film, the station where Partridge works is facing serious cutbacks due to a corporate takeover, changing audience tastes, a drop in listenership and bailing advertisers. Though Partridge himself survives the ax, the same cannot be said for his fellow broadcaster, Pat Farrell ("Hell on Wheels' Colm Meaney), who, upon learning of his dismissal, completely flips out, holding his co-workers hostage at gunpoint while the goofy and inept Partridge is sent in by the authorities to help negotiate a peaceful resolution to the crisis. Maybe with our history of gun violence, we're a trifle more sensitive to this sort of thing here in America than they are in Britain, which may explain why some of the laughs tend to catch in our throats at times, particularly when Farrell is threatening to take out a bunch of his own innocent and understandably distraught colleagues as retaliation for the wrong that's been done to him. That being said, the stylish mix of satire, slapstick, black humor and social commentary that Coogan and his various co-writers have come up keeps us chortling through most of the movie. Coogan makes Partridge a likable everyman character, bemused and skeptical without being hard-edged and cynical. The supporting cast is engaging as well. Offbeat and funny.

MartinHafer While I have a bazillion reviews to my credit here on IMDb, I must tell you up front that I am not the best person to be reviewing this movie. This is because I have never seen the TV series on which this film is based and I am not particularly familiar with Steve Coogan. So, unlike many viewers, this is my first time and I cannot compare the movie with the show.The film begins with some corporate folks coming to the radio station where Alan (Coogan) works. They are there to make changes and he and the staff are pretty scared. It appears that Alan is the big change and he's going to be let go. But, being a weasel, he manages to focus their attention on someone else--Pat Farrell (Colm Meaney). However, when Pat is instead fired, he loses it and goes on a shooting spree. He also takes a bunch of hostages and it's up to Alan to try to help the police to get the folks out alive. However, being a weasel, he also hopes to gain a lot of attention for himself and thus improve his ratings! In fact, as the film progresses, you really see that this is Partridge's #1 goal.This movie is a very funny and EXTREMELY dark comedy. Such topics are usually NOT the basis for a comedy and the film manages to tackle a sick topic like this and still make it very watchable. However, at times, the film does have a few lulls--not serious ones but the pacing could have been just a bit better. Worth seeing--especially if you like your humor pitch black in tone.