Thursday 14 May 2020

The Alibi (2006) - Could have been worse 

In `The Alibi' Steve Coogan plays a `reformed' con man who now runs a `legitimate' business providing alibis for people when they're cheating on their partners. However, he comes unstuck when an assignment goes wrong and he's forced to cover up for a murder.

Therefore he's forced into many dangerous liaisons with gangsters, street hoods and cops if he's to get out of this (a) alive and (b) stay out of jail.

The film has all the makings of a cheeky guy Ritchie Lock Stock affair, but doesn't quite pull it off - not to say it doesn't have a go.

I love Steve Coogan just as much as the next Partridge fan, however, in The Alibi, Coogan has to play a suave, quick-thinking tough guy - a far cry from a DJ from Norwich. This is where it stumbles a bit. The Alibi isn't funny enough to be a comedy, dramatic enough to be a drama or action-packed enough to be an action flick. It sort of borrows from all genres and hopes the end result will be okay.

And it is... okay. It's not the greatest film of its kind, but it's definitely not the worst. All the pieces fit together at the end and if you can see Steve Coogan out of a knitted jumper and slugging it out with street punks in a dingy back-street American bar, then you're half way to finding some enjoyment in it.

6/10 May just keep you awake if Freddy Kruger was haunting your nights

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