Connection To THE LADIES MAN - Both are about radio hosts and are spin-offs of television shows, I say that's a good enough connection.
British TV comedy making it to the big screen as been a mixed bag at best - sure Monty Python perfected it - but even if the TV show was a massive classic the stretch to feature length have often been lacking - sure there is still enjoyment to be had because you are spending time with these characters. The 1970's seemed to be the heyday it seems like every other "classic" sit-com had a film (Porridge, Steptoe and Son, Dad's Army are among them). Another problem is whether to take the character out of their comfort zone, taking them out of the comfort zone usually means taking them on holiday whether it makes sense (The Inbetweeners - young lads would go to sunny Spain) or not (Are You Being Served? - have you ever gone on holiday with all your work colleagues even the ones that you dislike), so Alan Partridge coming to the big screen could have mean falling flat on his face...
It's hard to believe I've been a fan of Alan Partridge for 20 years now - Knowing Me, Knowing You was my first experience of him in 1994 (I wasn't familiar with The Day Today or the radio show at the time), I've enjoyed him in his awesome I'm Alan Partridge series and his live shows where Partridge was the main event and was excited to see what the film would offer...
I was not disappointed - this film is funny, Steve Coogan's Partridge may be a touch nicer but the pig-headed ignorance is still there as are some of the supporting characters (Lynn and Michael The Geordie among others) which sees Partridge working at North Norfolk Digital, which has just been brought out and as staff members facing redundancies, Partridge is not bothered but his colleague Pat Farrell (Colm Meaney) fears very much for his job and pleads with Partridge to gatecrash a board meeting to persuade them not to sack pack but Alan inadvertently discovers it's him or Pat who will get the sack and he betrays Pat even writing "JUST SACK PAT" on a flip-chart. Pat is then fired, the owners host a party that evening which Pat enters and holds everyone hostage, Alan escapes to the police and is asked to enter as a negotiator.
I really liked the relationship between Pat and Partridge, Pat's unblinking trust not knowing Partridge screwed him over helps build up tension when you know he will evidently find out, Pat also seems like a good guy deep down gone to desperate measures and they capture that well considering it's a comedy.
The absolute funniest bit for me which had me laughing for ages is a dream moment of Partridge getting the gun off of Pat and an action scene/chase happening which ends up 3 police men taking their helmets off and all being Alan, it's what get's said that was so funny to me I had to rewind back to re-watch to laugh all over again. There's nothing I'd really criticize about the movie because I had an extremely good time watching and would welcome a sequel or some sorts.
Overall, as a long-time fan of Partridge I really enjoyed this, it made me laugh all the way through and had a good central plot, recommend.
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