Alan Partridge: Alpha Papa - Hit and miss in places (but mainly hits)

Steve Coogan has had a chequered history when it comes to starring in films - he's either great, or cringe worthy. However, much of his fame came from spoof radio DJ Alan Partridge, so a film about the man from Norwich is a safe bet.

I did wonder whether Steve Coogan would be able to stretch what is normally a half-hour TV show out into a full-length feature and the plot revolves around a rival DJ at Partridge's radio station getting threatened with the sack.  Rather than take it in his stride, he takes the entire office hostage, leaving Partridge as - unwilling - 'hostage negotiator' between captor (Colm Meaney) and the police outside.  Of course Partridge sees this as a way of ensuring his own career at the station and lifting his own public profile.  I have to say I didn't think much of the opening and was wondering what I had let myself in for, but, if you give it about half an hour, the jokes start flowing freely and you'll find yourself laughing out loud more often than not.  However, after a second viewing I found the opening actually pretty solid.

If you've never seen Alan Partridge, you should be warned that it's an odd type of humour and maybe you should dip your toe into the various Partridge TV series if you're not too sure whether you'll like it. In between my first and second viewing of the film I had actually re-watched the Alan Partridge series on Netflix, so maybe I was more familiar withe returning characters (such as the ever put-upon assistant, 'Lynn') which may have helped my enjoyment of it.  But, basically, if you like the TV shows, you'll like the film. I don't know whether we'll ever see a sequel - hopefully not, as this is probably best left on its own.

7/10 if I woke up on Groundhog Day and had to watch this again, I could live with that