Alan Partridge Review

RYAN: I recently rented this new movie on iTunes to check it out and was pleasantly surprised.  It’s very British humor, of course and I liked it.

CAROLINE: That’s cool – we do love Steve Coogan ever since Hamlet 2 which we both totally cracked up at!  How does this compare?

RYAN: It’s completely different.  This is actually the big screen adaptation of a character he’s played on TV; interesting because this movie sort of feels like a feature-length SNL sketch.  Alan Partridge is a character he’s done for years on the BBC.

CAROLINE: That is interesting.

RYAN: I wasn’t familiar with this character before this movie and I love him – He’s very much like someone who would have been on the show Ally McBeal, which happens to be my all-time favorite TV show. He’s so quirky, odd, unusual but funny and endearing too.  He’s blissfully oblivious while everyone else around him is “normal.”

CAROLINE: I liked Ally too.  That makes sense why this would appeal to you.  Did you LOL at all?

RYAN: I did actually, and there were lines I, like, want to remember.  It’s a quotable comedy.

CAROLINE: Oh that’s a treat.  How’s the rest of the cast?

RYAN: Good.  No one you’ll recognize, which is kinda fun because you just lose yourself in the story.  It’s interesting as a comedy because it’s shot like an action film.  The angles and editing are very interesting.

CAROLINE: Oh that’s cool.

RYAN: It doesn’t become a bit actiony and suspenseful at a few points so that technique lends itself well to the film.

CAROLINE: I’ve always felt Steve was underrated.

RYAN: Well he did just have a couple Oscar noms this year – for Philomena, which he starred in, wrote and produced.  It was up for Best Picture and Best Adapted Screenplay.

CAROLINE: That is correct.

RYAN: I like him so much more than the Adam Sandlers and WIll Ferrells out there.  He’s more like a Ricky Gervais – natural and authentically funny.  The scoring and music is also very effectively used and pleasurable.  I liked a lot of songs on the soundtrack.  It pops.

CAROLINE: I’d totally check this one out.

RYAN: It involves a hostage situation, which is not a common environment for comedy.  But it plays it well.  It’s 90 minutes and cute.  I enjoyed it.

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