What a waste of my time!!!

Nice effects though.

This is a tender, generous movie that likes its characters and presents them as real people, full of flaws and strengths.

I think this is a new genre that they're all sort of working their way through it and haven't got all the kinks worked out yet but it's a genre that works for me.

I work in Curry's, and was going to write my review in Latin, but decided most of you won't be able to understand it. I watched this in 6th form in the late 90s, and could quote a lot of it word for word .... as you do back then, at that age. Now at 34, I still meet up with mates and I don't think I have had a night where I didn't slip in a quote here or there, could be something as small as "lovely stuff" .... or aqua, it's french for water. There are hundreds of varying quality, but you never run dry!Then there are just outrageous, where did the thought process come from lines like; "I know lying is wrong, but if the elephant man came in now in a blouse with some make up on, and said "how do I look?" Would you say, bearing in mind he's depressed and has respiratory problems, would you say "go and take that blusher off you mis-shapened elephant tranny"? No. You'd say 'You look nice... John'"The genius of Bohemiam Rhapsody is that you listen to it and think this is so out there, so unusual, where did it come from, what was the thought process, and that's what I think about Partridge. Some of it is just incredible genius, simple, but brilliant. I wrote a review for curb your enthusiasm, which the Americans hold up as comedy, I can see parallels between that and Partidge, but it's nowhere near as funny!

Along with series 6 of Only Fools and Horses, I'm Alan Partridge series 1 is the greatest set of episodes of any comedy I have seen. The sheer quality of the acting and writing makes you weep at those who think My Family is good TV.The first I saw of I'm Alan Partridge was the final episode of the original run. I can still remember being in tears of laughter from start to finish; seeing 'Castrol GTX' revealed on Alan's jacket at Tony Hayer's funeral nearly killed me. Then I saw the first run of repeats and was completely hooked.The genius of Alan Partridge lies in how many different layers of his persona are evident - his fixation with transsexuals, his obsession with war and death, his desperation to be liked, his hatred of criminality and his xenophobia to name a few. Then there's the little things - the way he has to explain his jokes, his bad breath, the daydreaming, his bad skin and receding hairline, his love of driving. The genius of many of Alan's traits lies in the fact that they were established gradually ever since his first appearance on The Day Today. We discover on Knowing Me, Knowing You that he has bad breath, he has his first run-in with a transsexual and he refuses to pull onto the hard shoulder for sex.Steve Coogan's performance as Alan is simply sublime. For example, when he is presenting the boat video and tries to ingratiate himself with 'the lads' by ogling a passing woman. Notice the look on his face just after he says "oooooooooooohhhh sex" when he starts drinking his pint, the little expressions like that are genius.Many of the strongest scenes take place in the radio studio - the Joni Mitchell rant; "Mmm, a nice big thick slice of Thin Lizzy"; the war with Dave Clifton; "So give me a call, PLEASE!! Seriously, though, do give me a call." These were certainly the better parts of the second series, which I thought was generally embarrassing and took the character in completely the wrong direction.I hope I haven't bored anyone, but it's hard not to look so closely at such an incredible series. Here are my favourite quotes: "Never throw water on a fat fire. It'll take your face off." "You know the breakfast buffet, all you can eat but from an 8-inch plate? 12 inches. Keep it in my room." "That is the best Valentine's Day I've had in 8 years." "What did you do 8 years ago?" "Just had a better one. Went to Silverstone, shook Jackie Stewart's hand - superb. My marriage fell apart soon after that." "What was he doing on the bloody roof?!" "He was getting the aerial down..." "Yeah, I was being rhetorical." "He had a second class honours degree in Media Studies from Loughborough University. What a waste." "I'd love to feel an airbag go off in my face. It'd be 'Huh, boosh, boosh'...cushion effect on the face." "Looking at the big girdles section? Amazing to think that some of these women are technically models." "Jet from Gladiators to host a Millennium barn dance at Yeovil Aerodrome. Properly policed, it must not, repeat not turn into an all-night rave."Ten on ten, Lynn

Series two of 'I'm Alan Partridge' was not what people expected. Originally broadcast by the BBC in Autumn/Winter 2002, it followed hot on the heels of the legendary second series of 'The Office' - a tough act for anyone to follow. However....... We join an Alan who's moved up in the world - he now commands a 'six-figure income', has a euro-babe girlfriend and a detached house under construction . He's still at radio Norwich, but has achieved promotion of sorts - swapping his graveyard shift for the coveted 'late-evening' slot, displacing rival DJ Dave Clifton in the process.Unlike in the first series, Partridge has no 'end-game', having lately given up the notion of ever returning to television. What we watch instead is a twisted, middle-aged man simply killing time and filling his life with crass displays of wealth and unrequited relationships. What the HELL is going on with John the builder?Although I didn't laugh much the first time, subsequent viewings of the series revealed a wealth of subtle gags and endlessly detailed observational comedy. Alan's relationships with the other regular characters are now in constant flux - Alan losing the upper hand with 'rent-a-mate' Micheal - who has new independence, and long-suffering PA Lynne, who gradually begins to assert herself. His handovers with Dave Clifton also become increasingly bitter and spiteful. Here, the writers should be commended for developing the relationships between the characters, whilst highlighting the ever-increasing dark moments in Partridge's private life.There are still lots of excellent set-pieces: Alan insisting on doing a corporate presentation on fireplaces despite losing several pints of blood from a gaping leg-wound; A trip with Sonia to a stately home, which Alan tries to pass off as showbiz-pal Bono's house... Sonia: "Why the rope everywhere? why the plastic fruit?" Partridge: "The man is mentally ill - I've seen him eat a plastic pie!" I'd love to know what the real Bono would make of that statement!An admirable follow up to an all-time classic, It should have been aired after The Office furore had died down. 'Lovely Stuff'

... and that seems to be the only reason. As I return to watching an episode from the original 'I'm Alan Partridge' series after having watched the second a number of times now, I am struck by the disparity. It seems the original series was somewhat experimental and very much with the objective of exploring many more facets of the fascinating character that is Alan Partridge, and it's study is a tremendous success.This second series seems far more 'commercial', based less upon astute observations of the character and his life and more by exaggerated caricatures and a host of outrageous and unrealistic situations created purely for comedic purposes. It seems to me, series 1 has humour more as a by-product of the journey we go on into Alan's private world, while series 2 has humour as it's sole objective. Vomiting while hosting a fire-place sales conference after piercing his foot on a spike, or re-enacting the opening sequence to The Spy Who Loved Me, are two typical examples. This series seems to have been created in response to the 'call of the punters' wanting to see more 'Alan' to make them laugh, and was the bone that was thrown them, but in doing so, compromising many of the sacred keystones that had been previously laid. While it certainly succeeds in providing a number of genuinely funny situations and lines (after all the 'Coogan crew' are very clever comedy writers), it no longer attempts to remain loyal to the accuracy of the archetype but instead indulges in humour that was once much more subtle and measured. Furthermore, it lazily shortcuts it's way through by self-abusively reusing many of the highly successful original ideas from series 1 and manipulating them to fit the new context, using the petrol station as centre stage while originally being merely incidental, springs to mind. Alan's mimicking of accents too, is just incessant here while far more restrained and calculated in the first series. Another typical example would be the joke where, in series 1, he mistakenly refers to the pop artist, Sinead O'Connor, as "the bald chap", serving to expose his ignorance and disregard for all things Irish in front of his Irish guests, whereas in series 2 this joke rehashed in his comment of "a beautiful blonde man, with a lovely voice" being Annie Lennox is... well I'm yet to understand the point of that joke. While this second series is certainly worth watching for many worthy laughs ("the worth of boast worlds", "cup o' beans", "I've got your kids Dan!", "I wonder who got the power pack", "Bono?!! No he's not here" and so on), those who love Steve Coogan's work for his incredible gift at capturing so poignantly yet hilariously the human condition will be disappointed. It seems a half-hearted effort more motivated by the need to meet public demand and an opportunity to indulge Steve Coogan's acting prowess than with anything further to say. The genius of the earlier Alan Partridge was that he was a man who we primarily find offensive and utterly repulsive, yet with a humanness and vulnerability that we could all identify with in some way and not help but feel incredible sympathy for. There are certainly moments in this series of its former glory and its ability to portray the agonizing realities of this man's life. Playing in a video game arcade alone on a Saturday night is effective and the scene of his trip to see his book being pulped, accompanied with The Windmills of My Mind, must be the series' finest moment; describing it looking like 'word porridge', plaintively crying out when he spots a copy, and then (as the closing scene of the series) in the distance breaking into a trot as he leaves, brings tears to the eyes.Years earlier in one of the original 'Knowing Me, Knowing You' radio shows on Radio 4, Alan Partridge had on, as a guest, a comedian who was trying to make the point that he wanted to make "observational comedy" dealing with "generic human truths", he said "I want to be funny but, with dignity" to which Alan whispers "Do your Frank Spencer". Coogan was here drawing attention to the form of comedy that he obviously was intending to emulate in the creation of Alan Partridge, and incidentally, very cleverly in the same script using him to portray the typical audience that won't grasp that and just wants cheap laughs. Well now sadly, it's Steve Coogan himself who is committing the crime that he once mocked by resorting to the painfully unsubtle techniques of silly accents, caricatures, and repeated jokes to provide cheap laughs at the expense of the comedy 'with dignity' that once hallmarked the humour of Alan Partridge. Ironically, being swayed to cash-in on public demand by producing makeshift follow-ups is in itself is a generic human truth, but I can forgive the makers of works like 'Police Academy', as they had far less to compromise. The hallowed ground that was the world of Alan Partridge should have been treated with more respect, but maybe that's just yet another example of the Alan Partridge in us all.In summary Episode 1: * ½ Episode 2: ** Episode 3: **** Episode 4: *** Episode 5: ** ½ Episode 6: ***