Review of 24 Hour Party People (2002) by Stuart K — 27 Apr 2014
Directed by Michael Winterbottom, who at the time had done a Thomas Hardy adaptation with Jude (1996), a war drama with Welcome to Sarajevo (1997) and another Hardy adaptation with The Claim (2000). Winterbottom got a deal at United Artists, and for his next film, made something very personal and close to home, the tale of the Madchester scene, and it's his best film.
Set between 1976 and 1992, it tells the story of Tony Wilson (Steve Coogan), a journalist for Granada Television, who hosts a local music show called So It Goes, but he wants to support local musical talent, and with friends Alan Erasmus (Lennie James) and Rob Gretton (Paddy Considine) starts putting on local bands at a club owned by Don Tonay (Peter Kay).
From this, the bands Joy Division and A Certain Ratio gain publicity, Wilson starts Factory Records. After the suicide of Joy Division's front man Ian Curtis (Sean Harris), Joy Division become New Order, and Factory sign The Happy Mondays and open The Haçienda.
It's a brilliant story of how, for a brief moment, Manchester brought forwards some brilliant talent to the musical world, and the film is a love story to Manchester too. Coogan has fun as Wilson, and the film plays with conventions and storytelling too, it's unconventional, but that was Factory's way of working.
A classic.
This review of 24 Hour Party People (2002) was written by Stuart K on 27 Apr 2014.
24 Hour Party People has generally received very positive reviews.
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