Sex, drugs, and rock n roll! (24 Hour Party People (DVD))

Member Name: joecooper

Product:	24 Hour Party People (DVD)
Date:	05/03/03 (175 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: The music.

Disadvantages: Plot pacing at times.

During the late 1970s and early 1980s, Manchester bands such as Joy Division, New Order, and the Happy Mondays roared into prominence and helped shove disco, hippie rock, and glam into their musical graves. Continuing the spirit of innovation, England's second city then gave birth, in the mid-80s, to the enduring phenomenon of dance clubs and the ecstasy-laden rave scene. 24 Hour Party People tells the spectacularly wild sex, drugs, and 'rock n roll' tale of this golden age of youth culture through the eyes of its unlikely patron; a disgruntled television journalist by the name of Tony Wilson (Steve Coogan).

Despite his Cambridge education and sincere desire to leave his journalistic mark, Tony's been relegated by his employer to covering banal human-interest stories. After entertaining television viewers by crashing a hang-glider into a paddock, and interviewing the world?s shortest elephant keeper, Tony decides to seek his professional fulfilment through his own entrepreneurial activities. It all begins at a Sex Pistols pub gig and ends ten years later with the stunning demise of his chaotically successful record label, Factory Records, and his world famous rave venue, the Hacienda.

As much as it's Tony's story, 24 Hour Party People is all about the music of the times. The soundtrack blisters along almost constantly to the sounds of the Sex Pistols, Joy Division, New Order, Siouxsie & The Banshees, the Buzzcocks, the Happy Mondays, 808 State, and A Guy Called Gerald. Fans of the music will be spellbound, and will no doubt be compelled to purchase the soundtrack.

In the role of Tony Wilson, Steve Coogan, who?s known mostly as a comedian, is placed under enormous pressure. Not only does he have to convincingly portray an enigmatic and multi-faceted character on screen for the lion?s share of the film's 115 minutes, he's also subject to a ready-made litmus test. The real Tony Wilson is well known and still
appears on television in the U.K. From all accounts, Coogan mimics Wilson extremely well, and provides an enormous amount of comic relief during the film. However, in some of the film's more serious moments, he appears unable to convey the necessary depth of emotion.

The cast of 24 Hour Party People is large. After all, it has to contain the absolute cavalcade of famous music industry personnel that wandered in and out of Factory Records and the Hacienda over the course of a hyperactive decade. As well as by some interesting cameo appearances by the Happy Monday's Paul Ryder and the Buzzcock's Howard Devoto, the viewer's attention is captured by an outstanding performance by actor Sean Harris. As Joy Division's deeply disturbed frontman, Ian Curtis, Harris is mesmerizing. His ability to convey the intensity of Curtis's on and off-stage persona is nothing short of superb. 24 Hour Party People was poorer for his absence when Curtis's time in the story ended.

Director, Michael Winterbottom (The Claim, Wonderland) excels in as far as his work is not noticed to the detriment of the film. Many of his 'arthouse' techniques are to film?s advantage. Tony Wilson?s life is wild and disorganised. Accordingly, Winterbottom's use of digital video and radio microphones gives the film an appropriate anarchic feel. Despite a lagging later half, as far as story pacing is concerned, 24 Hour Party People is a success for Winterbottom and his filmmaking team.

24 Hour Party People is a roaring good ride right through the middle of some very interesting times. A comedy with a docu-drama feel, this film will be of interest to most people over the age of 18. For fans of the music, and for those who just love a great sex, drugs, and rock n roll story, the film is a must see. For the soundtrack alone, 24 Hour Party People gets four out of five stars.

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