Following
several memorable appearances on the small screen over the past 20 years, Steve
Coogan’s best known creation (in the UK, at least) makes his big screen debut
in this seldom hilarious but nevertheless consistently engaging siege comedy.
Coogan is unsurprisingly excellent, as the ever heedless DJ tasked with
mediating between the police and a gone-postal sacked radio presenter, who is
holding his former bosses hostage. Good support comes from Colm
Meaney, as the gun-wielding loon, Tim Key, as Partridge’s on-air sidekick, and
– amongst many others – Felicity Montagu, as his long put-upon personal assistant.
Well crafted, with plenty of good gags, Alpha Papa proves pleasantly diverting.
