A largely successful – if not quite triumphant – multiplex translation that delivers the sort of film Partridge fans were hoping for. Back of the cinematic net.
Ruddy hilarious. Just what big-screen comedy needed.
Coogan’s gift for making Partridge a believably awful everyman makes Alpha Papa a welcome slice of accomplished British character comedy.
Steve Coogan serves up the funniest movie this year.
Coogan delivers a finely tuned masterclass in comedic character acting.
Alpha Papa consistently offers solid laughs while making a point about his stupidity, selfishness and lack of awareness.
Alan Partridge: Alpha Papa isn't so steeped in pathos as the best episodes of I'm Alan Partridge or Mid-Morning Matters, but it does play to the character's strengths, giving him reams of carefully honed comic writing disguised as casual malapropisms and off-the-cuff banter.
It remains to be seen whether this marks the start of a new film franchise but there is clearly life yet in Norwich's finest DJ.
I think that Alpha Papa, by and large, gets away with it. It's knowing and it's funny, and Coogan's persona remains so perfectly realised that he's able to survive when the plot over-reaches and blows out the levels.
Extremely funny.
Alan Partridge: a look inside his mind
General release. Check local listings for show times.
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