Philomena

A film with moments of comedy, co-written by and starring Steve Coogan, 'Alpha Papa' was released in 2013. But lo, I jest. 'Philomena' is perhaps a turning point in Coogan's career, having spent much of his time on the silver screen in self-admittedly poor films popping up alongside snorty-snorty friends in bit-part roles in Hollywood crap. While comedy is indeed an element in the film, 'Philomena' is potentially the start of a maturing for Coogan, as he moves towards making the films he'd probably like to make, rather than end up in.

'Based on true events', lead, Judi Dench, plays Philomena, an elderly Irish woman living in London who, on the day that would be his fiftieth birthday, wants to locate her son, taken from her and adopted while she was in a convent in her teenage years. Having no luck herself, a chance encounter with journalist Martin Sixsmith (Coogan) leads him to help her in her search; his career having taken a backward step.

As with any one-on-one film, the pair are opposites: Philomena a devout Catholic, believing in the good in people; Martin a cynical atheist, with little belief in anything. Seeing the story as a possible career boost, he uses his contacts to fund the search and publish the story, inevitably learning more about life than a simple 'human interest' story.

For Dench, it was probably always inevitable that the reviews would be strong and the award nominations would follow. Though for Coogan, the reception was a little less obvious, writing and acting in a much more serious role. In terms of acting, despite the odd slightly cringe-worthy moment, he does a good job playing a job role he so loathes, while the writing - alongside Jeff Pope - is strong, finding a good balance between sentimentality and comedy in adapting Sixsmith's book.

'Philomena' will add another strong performance to Dench's long list of roles, while 2013 has been a big year in terms of Coogan's career, possibly putting Partridge to bed with a film and moving into more serious acting roles in 'The Look of Love' and now 'Philomena' and it will be interesting to see which direction it moves next, though it seems clear he would like more critical acclaim than laughs from now. That said, intentional or not, one comes away feeling more entertained than heartbroken by the film's conclusion. 

Alan Partridge: Alpha Papa

So goes with any popular comedy character(s), a film needs to be made to essentially kill them off,  in a 'we won't be making any more of these' sense, as well artistically. Most inevitably succeed financially, but are often poor attempts at transferring a character that works in a thirty minute format to the big screen.

And so now comes one of the great British comedy characters: Alan Partridge. With the previous incarnations of Alan Gordon Partridge, it would be easy to suggest that the character wouldn't work on the big screen: spoof news show sports reporting; chat show; claustrophobic, fly-on-the-wall account of a man's life crumbling; and web-cam radio show. Turning a much-loved character from intentionally un-cool scenarios into the more dramatic setting required for cinema is a different-shaped potato altogether.

Well, to start, the three original writers, all involved here, have all have experience working in cinema, albeit inconsistent, and as such know how to work within the medium. The problem is, would this be one of their hits rather than misses?

While not a corking, copper-bottomed hit, 'Alan Partridge: Alpha Papa' is one of the better conversions. Quite nicely, they have put the character in the sort of scenario he dreams of, though would be unable to cope with should it occur. Unless of course, there is quality broadcasting to made. But with Partridge, it's the mundane nature of the situations that make it so good, and so while the film doesn't completely disappoint, it isn't the best incarnation of the character to date, and is arguably, the worst.

It's disappointing that there are fewer of the regular Partridge faces from the past included within the cast, though this is probably a compromise that had to be made when moving to cinema, with the likes of Colm Meaney and Sean Pertwee drafted in. Compromise is probably what saves the film from becoming the depressing romp that comedy films can often descend into, with endless horrible afterthoughts thrown in at the end as the film concludes. Enough balance has been made to ensure that it is a film that can stand up on its own merits, but also not completely disappointing worshipers of Partridge.  

There are some good Partridge moments, like his choice of vehicle, though there is nothing particularly here to add to the endlessly quotable lines delivered by Steve Coogan. Instead, it is an enjoyable enough ninety minutes of comedy that builds the Partridge character further, leaving some possibility that the old dog isn't quite dead just yet.