James O'Brien

We knew within seconds we were in the “wrong movie”. We had already felt a little uncomfortable about the size of the crowd and theatre, expecting a much larger crowd in a much larger theatre. But we sat there, chatting, half-watching the ads, until the opening credits appeared and within seconds we realised we were in the wrong theatre. We got up quickly, found the right theatre, and then made our way to the second front row, as the much larger theatre was close to capacity.

We knew little about the film, except that it was based around the fictional character of small-town radio announcer, Alan Partridge. Since we both work in radio, my colleague/friend and I thought it would be fun to go to. Indeed, there are lots of very funny “radio jokes”, and there were lots of moments when we both laughed out loud, making comparisons in our minds between some of the extreme egotism of the character, as an amplified version of the some of the behaviour we sometimes seem in our colleagues.

There were so many moments when we, and all of the cinema, laughed out loud at the roller-coaster of unexpected twists and turns the movie took. There were no moments of predictability. The film romped along at a cracker pace, and importantly, was about the right length. Despite the comic value of it all, the film has heart, and despite the sometimes farcical comedy, all of the characters were, in their own ways, totally believable.

It’s definitely a film I’d like to see again, as I’m sure there are moments, actions and lines I’d probably pick up on which were maybe lost on first viewing. I’d also like to see the first couple of minutes we missed from being in the wrong cinema.