24 Hour Party People (2002)

Wonderful character development!

the audience applauded

Easily the biggest piece of Right wing non sense propaganda I ever saw.

Although I seem to have had higher expectations than I thought, the movie is super entertaining.

So, the history is there, in a sort of hazy blotch of spurtches (those are real words, look them up), but of course it's told to us by one person, Tony Wilson, who everyone in the film repeatedly says is a c*nt, and potentially the worst kind, a charming c*nt that appears to know everything, is married multiple times to women he constantly cheats on, and appears to fail at everything except failure (he's apparently married to a former Miss UK as of the film's making). His specialty is talking out of his ass and spotting the next big thing in music. So, we're treated to the Sex Pistols, we're treated to Joy Division and New Order, the Happy Mondays, bands the kids don't know they know unless they know they need to. It's told tongue-and-cheek, and you know it must embrace the spirit of it because there are multiple cameos by the people who were a part of it. It also comes with a light of mockumentary about it, as though it needs to make fun of itself to keep you off about whether this or that happened that way or if it happened at all (and sometimes they will straight up tell you it didn't). A little too self-aware to be a masterpiece, but it's revetting and loads of fun to watch, all the same.

I was mislead by the trailers of '24 Hour Party People' have been very misleading. I thought it would be another 'Trainspotting' type movie about party animals. However, it's something different, something better. Though many have compared it to the likes of 'Studio 54' (Lord knows why), '24 Hour Party People' is a far better made and more effective film. Based on a true story, it takes place during the time when punk rock was subsiding and new kinds of music were born in England. Shot with a digital camera, in documentary style with some use of live footage and narrated by Tony Wilson, (who leads a double life as a TV reporter and music producer), Michael Winterbottom takes us into the rave culture in Manchester, that of sex, drugs and rock and roll. We see it all from Wilson's point of view and we are amused by the layers of his character. Coogan breathes life into Tony Wilson and brings an excellent humour in his portrayal. Paddy Considine and Shirley Henderson stand out too. Pretty much all the performances appear authentic. Watch out for cameos by Andy Serkis, Simon Pegg and Marsha Thomason and by real bandmembers. The portrayal of the Manchester culture, the scenes inside the club and the bands look very real. Winterbottom infuses loads of energy and craze to 'seduce' the viewer. He cleverly injects dry humour which only supports that this is more than just a documentary-like movie. The soundtrack is a must-have and for those who love movies about music, this is a must see.

This was basically thrown away by MGM, to audiences which had to find it themselves. Which is somewhat in keeping with a record label whose products had to be sought out, then correctly deciphered (Factory products weren't labeled, as such). Only here, all the promotional materials were limp and half-hearted (poster, DVD box, marketing, etc). Never hand the marketing of counterculture to the timid drones who work at a mass-market studio like MGM.This assembles the Factory/Joy Division/Happy Mondays/Manchester story for those who came late to the game, or were geographically out of the picture. Tony Wilson (Steve Coogan) acts as historian, tour guide, and chronicler of the Manchester scene that produced the hideously over-valued and mythologized Joy Division. The technique is to acknowledge that we're watching a movie now and again which spares it from a typical plot line, and emotional arc. Plot-schmott, just enjoy yourself watching a maverick music guru getting dragged down by a nightclub that's become an anchor around his neck. The movie has gotten way off track by the time Tony is taking credit for rave culture which has zero to do with the the initial impetus of putting together a label for a bunch of angry, anti-social, post-punk bands. Rave culture is about as angry as numbing yourself with drugs to look at pretty colors; and disappearing into your own baby-boomer-offspring selfishness ethos. The original Factory acts would have been punching these big babies.Still I'd trade anything to live in a world of thirty billion Tony Wilsons (as remade here). He's always either smart, or funny, except when it comes to business. And the movie is infinitely better and more enjoyable than the similar 'Studio 54,' with Mike Myers as Steve Rubell. As everyone has noted it runs too long, and loses steam.

A frantic,no-holds barred biopic of the sadly recently deceased Tony Wilson,the Manchester-based regional news presenter turned record label owner turned nightclub owner(influenced by witnessing a sparsely attended gig the infamous Punk Rockers The Sex Pistols did in the city in June 1976),and the trials and tribulations surrounding the pop groups Joy Division and The Happy Mondays.Director Michael Winterbottom has elected to film 24 HOUR PARTY PEOPLE in a breathless,hand-held,cinema verite style on digital video,packed with incidents that may or may not be true,plus Brechtian-style interjections by Wilson himself,reminding us that this is only a film we're watching;there are even scenes of UFO's of visions of God thrown in to make sure of this! On one level,this is all extremely entertaining,funny and inventive.Winterbottom's style does not interfere with the substance too markedly(although that is a double meaning;the substance is not just referring to the script but the illegal chemicals used by virtually everyone on show in every sequence)and is apt for telling this kind of story,which he achieves with considerable aplomb.Their are problems for the actors involved. Steve Coogan,Andy Serkis,Danny Cunningham,Paddy Considine,Ralf Little,John Simm,etc. are perfectly good in their roles,but because of the ferocious pace that Winterbottom has applied to the film,there are very few opportunities for little more than superficial characterisations,which end up in coming across little better that impersonation.Coogan,an extremely talented comic actor,is not quite as good a serious actor,and he occasionally seems a trifle uncomfortable in several scenes which would have worked better being played straight rather than for laughs.He doesn't remotely resemble the real Tony Wilson in appearance,and his performance sometimes veers into caricature and Alan Partridge-isms.The best performance comes from Sean Harris as the tragic Ian Curtis;this is the nearest we get to any sort of character with depth.But even before the suicide of Curtis (which is shown in a rather too jokey manner),we still don't find the proper reasons why he decided to take his own life;the new film CONTROL will hopefully tell the story of Ian Curtis in full detail.However,there are some amusing cameos from such Manchester musical icons as Mark E.Smith,Clint Boon and Mani,which come off rather well and enhance our interest and enjoyment of the film.The music itself is great,but to truly tell the story of 'MADCHESTER' in greater detail,you need to mention other groups such as The Stone Roses,The Inspiral Carpets,James,The Charlatans,Northside and 808 State,who are totally anonymous here.Highly influential as Tony Wilson,Factory Records and The Hacienda were,there were many other important players involved to make it so unique and memorable.Perhaps the filmmakers couldn't obtain the copyright for these other great tunes.The recreation of the Hacienda itself is convincing (being filmed where it was actually located),as are the whimsical,if not farcical, reports from the local TV station (GRANADA TV) which was Wilson's day job in between running his record label and nightclub. The contrast from the early,near-empty Hacienda to the jam-packed glory of it's post-punk,rave peak is amusing,but more scenes here with the music and dancing may have given us a better feel of what made the 'MADCHESTER' era so special.The scenes recreated of the Hacienda at it's peak are very well done,but rather too fleeting.The references to the excessive drug intake there (particularly the Mondays) are thankfully not preachy but rather too ambivalent.An interview on the DVD extras with lead singer Shaun Ryder (bloated,prematurely aged and shaking) possibly should've also been included in the film as a warning to the excesses of the rock n'roll lifestyle.The Mondays had proved ability at creating quirky music,but away from the recording studio they seemed grossly inarticulate,repellent-minded oafs whose desire for temporary hedonism soon brought them crashing to earth,though they have made a comeback of sorts in recent years,bruised and battered and a trifle more sensible.Wilson himself had no sort of business sense;Factory Records went bankrupt in 1992,and the Hacienda finally closed it's doors in 1997 after trouble with various gangs and police objections.Tony Wilson himself sadly died on 10 August 2007 after a battle with kidney cancer aged only 57.He has been much mourned here in the North West of England,particularly around Manchester,a city and people that he loved and stuck with through the bad times,until it briefly became,around 1989-1991,the musical centre of the world.That's what Tony himself wanted everybody to think,with him as the pivotal figure.These statements are perhaps not entirely true,but 24 HOUR PARTY PEOPLE is generally a fitting epitaph to a true musical visionary,hating the monetary driven London-based music industry,and bucking the trend by being more interested in producing music than making money.Hopefully in the near future,someone may produce a more in depth documentary look at Tony Wilson and 'MADCHESTER',a period I will always recall with fondness as I was attending college at the time,around Manchester.That may be an even more fitting epitaph.RATING:7 out of 10.