When I received an email letting me know that there was a feature-length Alan Partridge movie coming out, I knew I had to check it out. Alan Partridge is a fictional character that has been portrayed by Steve Coogan in a number of comedy shows on British TV over the years. Partridge’s character is an obnoxious, egotistical and incompetent DJ and TV host whose misadventures have always been funny to watch. The last time I personally saw the character was in re-runs of a series that aired some time ago – Alan Partridge made his initial debut in the 1990s – so I was glad to hear of a new spin-off and wanted to check it out.

In the eponymous Alan Partridge, we see Partridge in the present day working for the radio station North Norfolk Digital. As the station gets taken over by corporate interests, there is a shake-up that leads to the firing of fellow DJ Pat (Portrayed by Colm Meaney), thanks mostly to Alan throwing him under the bus. Pat decides to get his revenge by taking the radio station hostage, putting Alan in the position of being the negotiator between Pat and the police…and you can just imagine how well that all goes.

I found the humor in this movie feature to be a bit different that what I was used to previously from the character. Since this was a film rather than TV, it seemed they were “Going big” with a lot more over-the-top humor and unsubtle gags. I thought there was promise for Alan facing off against the equally-smarmy young DJ who joins North Norfolk Digital, but the film mostly focused on the “action” storyline with the hostage situation at the station, which ran too long and fell flat for me personally. I’m still an Alan Partridge fan, but I felt like the talented cast was under-utilized in this outing.

Alan Partridge comes out today, June 10th, and is available on Amazon – click here for more details.