I didn't enjoy Alan Partridge: Alpha Papa and I'm not entirely sure why not. I guess just because I wasn't in the mood for it, following a downer of a day, which, surprisingly, didn't make me feel more in need of a good laugh. All reviews are subjective up to a point but, with my mood in mind, my review of a film that is doing very well critically and commercially - it's topped the UK box office and went down well with pretty much everybody else I saw it with - is a little too subjective. That said, however objectively one tries to review a comedy, the main criterion is whether it is funny or not and, in the case of Alpha Papa, for me, it was, yet it wasn't.
It wasn't really the fault of the film itself. It was well made, with uniformly good performances by a raft of familiar faces from British comedy, loads of jokes, a well-chosen soundtrack (John Farnham and Example being my highlights), good use of Norfolk locations and a storyline worthy and believable of Alan Partridge. Even his hair looks the best it ever has. I have always found Steve Coogan's most enduring character somewhat funny but rarely hilarious. I enjoyed Knowing Me, Knowing You - With Alan Partridge in the '90's and used to reenact scenes and catchphrases with friends (Alan's defining chant, 'Ah-haaaaa!!' is oddly absent from the film) Yet, I didn't find it as funny as they did. I recall finding it too believable and awkward to really make me laugh. I watched a couple of I'm Alan Partridge episodes but I've more recently enjoyed The Day Today, where the character first appeared on TV, albeit in a short Sports desk sketch. So, the fact that I am only a fairweather Partridge fan no doubt contributed to my feelings toward Alpha Papa.
I had looked forward to seeing Alpha Papa as a work outing but not even that or the fact that my six other colleagues immensely enjoyed it was enough to help me get into it more. Two of them had just attended a funeral and so were more in need of having their spirits lightened than me. In the barely half-full Screen 1 of Norwich's Cinema City, most of the audience sounded like they enjoyed the film but our group (apart from me) showed it the loudest. And why not? Apart from the gales of laughter, my workmates 'awwed' Partidge's assistant Lynne during her makeover and sad moments; cheering when Norwich exteriors were onscreen, including St Peter Mancroft, the location of the aforementioned funeral. I was more excited by the appearance of the nearby Television and Movie Store, having been a regular visitor there over the years. The sort of films which that store sells merchandise for, e.g. Star Trek Into Darkness or Man Of Steel, are more my thing than Alpha Papa but aren't really my workmates' favourite sort of film.
I did genuinely chuckle during some scenes and tried joining in with the laughter at the start of the film in order to feel part of the occasion, as if afraid I would be judged for not being amused like the others but soon decided that was silly. What did anyone else care if I laughed or not? No one was paying attention to me. Why pay £7 to fake-laugh at a film? If it wasn't funny to me, then it wasn't funny. That said, I felt like a total nerdy-nerd-nerd with no sense of humour but that's just my self-consciousness. Afterwards, one colleague said something to the effect of 'You know how other people set you off laughing?...' in reference to how hard she had laughed with the others during the film, implying that maybe she wouldn't have laughed as much had she not seen it with them. Laughter is contagious, apparently but with this film, I guess I was immune. (Is that a Patridgeism?)
I got the jokes in Alpha Papa; they were well-written (by seasoned Partridge scribes Peter Baynham and Armando Ianucci, etc) and performed but I just didn't get into it. I wasn't bored but I felt disconnected from the film throughout. Wierdly, I found myself laughing at certain gags a few hours after seeing it, such as when Alan has to face an armed policeman butt naked from the waist down. Perhaps my mood had just generally improved by then? Even though I enjoy toilet humour, the scene where Alan hides in the septic tank of a portaloo, only made titter a bit, where I would have wet myself laughing another time (pun intended). Neither of these things featured heavily in Alpha Papa, although Alan's seductive purr of 'yes, that is my damn todger' to a new ladyfriend kept me amused after watching the film.
Comedy's a funny thing. I don't often see humourous films at the cinema, or in general. I prefer TV shows like Family Guy that play to my base sense of humour. Filmwise, I ideally, I prefer really surreal, daft comedy. Zoolander is one of my favourite funny films, as is The Magic Christian - a bonkers '60's film with Peter Sellers and Ringo Starr, co-written by some of the Monty Python team. Austin Powers is a favourite, particularly the first one. I even enjoyed parts of Myers' derided The Love Guru ('BALLGAZER!') I am usually quite conservative in my humour in everyday life, depending on who I'm with. I dislike hearing dirty jokes in church or about Christianity (Family Guy has lots of these, though), which got a fair treatment in Alpha Papa. Contrarily, I watched atheist comedian Richard Herring's stand-up show Christ On A Bike a few years back, plus, I can be dirtier in thought than word, which is probably something to do with my Id battling my Superego...and such. Although I enjoy some edgy comedy, I'm not generally a fan of Frankie Boyle or Jimmy Carr-type humour. Alpha Papa wasn't dark like them, or Four Lions (Directed by Chris Morris, a fellow alumnus of Coogan's from The Day Today), another film I didn't laugh with very much but more so than with Alpha Papa.
Four Lions takes schadenfreude - something else I find funny - to an explosive extreme in making a lot of its jokes revolve around people blowing themselves up, not a usual subject for comedy. This sort of humour (although on a much lighter level) is an essential element to Partridge; watching him make an absolute tool of himself. This happens intermittently in the film but, of course, being his film, he has to become the hero and save the day, which is nice to watch but not very funny. Even schadenfreude has its limits, though. When it becomes about practically bullying others, such as the extent to which Gervais and Stephen Merchant pick on Karl Pilkington in The Ricky Gervais Show, it gets uncomfortable.
Maybe I just am Alan Partridge? He reminds me a little too much of myself in his ineptitude, awkwardness and self-delusion. Not that I'm all of these all the time, no one is (even him) but, still...seeing believable, realistic comedic characters like Partridge and David Brent make me squirm and remind me of when I've been the butt of the joke but found it hard to laugh at myself. That's meant to be part of their overall appeal, I know - the fact that they reflect the ridiculousness of certain traits displayed by most people at some point. Plus, both Alan and I hail from Norwich (or at least, he's based his career there). Maybe, though, after a crap day and despite the fact that the fool becomes the hero, I would have been better served by a more outlandish comedy that helped me escape Reality, rather than one that was, literally and metaphorically. a little too close to home.
No comments:
Post a Comment