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'Alan Partridge' has good and bad gags, but the good ones are worth waiting for

( R ) ( Monitor Movie Guide )

'Alan Partridge' stars Steve Coogan as a hyper-obnoxious radio personality.

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Nicola Dove/Magnolia Pictures/AP
'Alan Partridge' stars Steve Coogan (l.) and Colm Meaney (r.).
  • By Peter Rainer Film critic

Steve Coogan’s self-created hyper-obnoxious radio personality, Alan Partridge, has been a British mainstay almost from the time he first appeared on radio and TV almost 20 years ago. Now he has his own feature film – titled, what else? “Alan Partridge” – and it’s a flurry of good gags and bad. The good ones are worth sitting around for.

Alan is now working as a DJ in sleepy, provincial Norwich. When a crazed fellow broadcaster (Colm Meaney) holds the station’s personnel hostage in retaliation for being sacked, the film loses its satiric edge. Coogan, to my regret, doesn’t do any celebrity impressions in this film. As he demonstrated in “The Trip,” he’s one of the best mimics in the business. Grade: B (Rated R for language, brief violence and nudity.)

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