Alan Partridge: New York Film Festival 2013

TV characters rarely make a satisfying leap to feature-length affairs, though fans of Steve Coogan’s Alan Partridge—a former BBC talk-show host reduced to killing time as a small-town radio DJ—have long prayed this brilliant cringe-comic creation would be the exception to the rule. The big-screen debut for North Norwich’s No. 1 son, however, is a textbook case of why these things are bad ideas: By dropping his iconic Britcom character into a Die Hard–lite scenario involving a hostage situation, Coogan & Co. come dangerously close to squandering two decades’ worth of good will. There are still intermittent moments of genius involving Partridge’s bottomless narcissism, as well as a handful of great lines (Partridge’s deejaying banter: “That was soft-rock cocaine enthusiasts Fleetwood Mac!”), but you’re better off just watching the various Beeb series for the first time, or the gajillionth. Click for showtimes.—David Fear

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