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Title: 24 Hour Party People (2002)
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| Cast overview, first billed only: | |||
| Steve Coogan | ... | Tony Wilson | |
| John Thomson | ... | Charles | |
| Paul Popplewell | ... | Paul Ryder | |
| Lennie James | ... | Alan Erasmus | |
| Shirley Henderson | ... | Lindsay | |
 |
Mark Windows | ... | Johnny Rotten |
| Paddy Considine | ... | Rob Gretton | |
| Raymond Waring | ... | Vini | |
| Ron Cook | ... | Derek Ryder | |
| John Simm | ... | Bernard Sumner | |
|
|
Danny Cunningham | ... | Shaun Ryder |
| Dave Gorman | ... | John the Postman | |
| Ralf Little | ... | Hooky (Peter Hook) | |
| Andy Serkis | ... | Martin Hannett | |
|
|
Nigel Pivaro | ... | Actor at Granada |
Manchester 1976: Cambridge educated Tony Wilson, Granada TV presenter, is at a Sex Pistols gig. Totally inspired by this pivotal moment in music history, he and his friends set up a record label, Factory Records, signing first Joy Division (who go on to become New Order) then James and the Happy Mondays, who all become seminal artists of their time. What ensues is a tale of music, sex, drugs, larger-than-life characters, and the birth of one of the most famous dance clubs in the world, The Hacienda - a mecca for clubbers as famous as the likes of Studio 54. Graphically depicting the music and dance heritage of Manchester from the late 70's to the early 90's, this comedy documents the vibrancy that made Mad-chester the place in the world that you would most like to be. Written by IGB
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After Coogan's last effort, the dreadful `The Parole Officer' I was wary of `24 Hour Party People'. I needn't have worried the two are not at all comparable.
The movie tells the true story of Tony Wilson (Steve Coogan), owner of Manchester's Factory Records, signing up the new, innovative bands that catches Wilson's talented eye as well as creating a club for groups to play in. Two of these bands Joy Division and The Happy Mondays are the main focus for the movie, seeing as how these bands, with their eclectic leads and band members , caused enough of a ruckus to have a decent story told about them.
The film is shot in a borderline mockumentary style with Wilson making often very funny humorous asides to the camera. This style, by director Michael Winterbottom , is itself a tribute to the low-key cheap but energetic music of the time, which spans from the mid 70s to early 90s. The movie is interspersed with clips from other media, including concert footage of the bands. It gives an almost TV-production feel to the movie, but that doesn't detract from the story.
Unfortunately if you are unfamiliar with the subject material, and the bands, you will be possibly lost, as the film seems to assume a certain familiarity with everything. As the film covers a span of years it tends to dip in at certain moments the idea isn't so much as to be a documentary, as a homage to the era, giving the viewer a flavour of the times, which is grand if only you know what you are tasting. `24 Hour Party People' will best be enjoyed by people familiar with the movie's subject matter. Coogan is on fine form here, his Wilson somewhat reminiscent of his earlier TV work which brought him to fame. The mixture of humour and tragedy, plus some fine imitations of real bands, makes for an entertaining movie that is one of the best of the British movies to come out in recent times. 7.5/10.