I cannot think of one single thing that I would change about this film. The acting is incomparable, the directing deft, and the writing poignantly brilliant.

This movie was so-so. It had it's moments, but wasn't the greatest.

In other words,this film is a surreal ride.

A great movie, one of the best of this year. There was a bit of confusion at one point in the plot, but nothing serious.

Brilliant, innovative telling of the Madchester story.The story of the emergence of Manchester as a major musical centre in the late-1970s and 80s. The story is told through the eyes of Tony Wilson (played by Steve Coogan), Grenada TV presenter/journalist, owner of The Hacienda, a famed Manchester club, and founder of Factory Records. We see the where it all started - the Sex Pistols first gig in Manchester and the emergence of bands like the Buzzcocks and, most importantly, Joy Division. We see how New Order formed from Joy Division and later we meet the Happy Mondays... Wonderfully entertaining yet edifying. It helps if you're into bands like Joy Division and the Happy Mondays, as I am. Even if you're not, it is worth watching to gain a better knowledge of musical history and the importance of what took place in Manchester in the 80s.This movie could easily have degenerated into a dry, linear history lesson. However, director Michael Winterbottom keeps the audience engaging and entertained through many innovative methods: breaking the fourth wall, humour, Wilson's narration and some interesting visual effects.As you would expect, there is a lot of music in the movie, and it is all great. Well chosen and timed too, as the music gives the movie its momentum.Solid performance by Steve Coogan in the lead role. While mostly a dramatic role, there are quite a few comedic moments, and Coogan is in his element there. Good supporting cast too.

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.

It would be unfair to dismiss "24 Hour Party People" as a biographical look at Tony Wilson. It's so much more. It's a celebration of music, of a lifestyle, of a bygone era. It also plays like a Greek tragedy, albeit substantially more fun, but there is no shortage of darkness and tragedy in the film. The shifts in tone are particularly remarkable, as the film veers from its usual dry, sardonic tone into real pathos and examination of the dark side of almost any phenomenal success.I'm not completely nuts. I'm not going to claim that "24 Hour Party People" is a visual masterpiece, or a film which achieves more with its characters than most accepted 'masterpieces' of cinema when it comes to depth. I'm not going to argue that it feels as complete an artistic achievement as one of the better films by a cinematic 'master'. Wait, what am I talking about? That's exactly what I'm going to argue. "24 Hour Party People" is as perfect as a film can get, not because it achieves the visual perfection of one of Kubrick's finer films, not because it marks a turning point in cinema history, but because it sets out to be exactly what it ends up being- a hilarious, darkly satirical and yet affectionate look at one of the biggest 'scenes' in music history, some of the best bands, and the man behind it all, Tony Wilson. A minor player in his own life story. This is one of the most purely enjoyable films ever made. It all unfolds with a sort of inspired madness. The very first scene shows the charismatic, arrogant, and somewhat self-important Tony Wilson hang-gliding for a television report, then turning to the camera after that's over with and saying "You're going to see a lot more of that sort of thing in the film. I don't want to say too much, don't want to spoil it. I'll just say one word: 'Icarus'. If you get it, great. If you don't, that's fine too. But you should probably read more." It's not only a terrific line, indicative of the sort of dry wit much of the dialogue achieves, but also telling of what the film is going to be like. J.R. Jones of the Chicago Reader was one of the less infatuated major critics with the film (but still gave it a definitely positive review, which should give you some indication of just how well-received this film was by critics), and labeled Coogan's Wilson a a pedantic narrator, describing his story as having little narrative momentum of its own. I like to think that's sort of the point, and Wilson himself makes a point to mention in the film that it's not a film about him. The highlight of the film, arguably even more than Frank Cottrell Boyce's screenplay, is Steve Coogan as Tony Wilson. As everyone reading this probably knows, Coogan based his famed Alan Partridge character on Tony Wilson's career as a television reporter, so he's really playing a variation on Alan Partridge here. What's amazing about Coogan's performance is that he manages to draw even this Partridge fan into Tony Wilson's world so much that I didn't care about any similarity. It's still a stunning comic performance, and excellent during the darker, more serious scenes in the film as well. I'd go as far as saying that it's one of the best male performances of the decade. The rest of the cast is too large to go through one by one, but everyone is excellent here, some going for a sort of slightly altered impersonation of the real-life person they're playing, some creating their own version. A point of criticism often aimed at "24 Hour Party People" is inaccuracy. The film is gleefully inaccurate, and I fail to see how that's a problem. We didn't need a pedantic, touch-on-all-bases film about Factory Records, because Factory Records would never have made such a movie had they ventured into film production. This is exactly the sort of loose-knit and yet tightly-written film that is needed to capture the energy of the music and the movement. Boyce's screenplay goes through dozens of characters, none of which don't feel real, it's got enough pompous and arrogant philosophizing to turn off even the worst pseudo-intellectual, but it makes it work simply because it's got a sort of self-mocking sense of humor. The points Wilson makes by referencing history and philosophy are valid, but it would be at odds with the sort of film this is if they weren't written with the wry wit the rest of the film is, and if they weren't delivered so wonderfully by Coogan. The film is shot on video, and uses a hand-held style which far from inhibiting the film as it arguably does with some other Winterbottom films, just suits it perfectly. That doesn't mean there aren't some scenes which are explosively extravagant visually, because there are, and they are beautiful. "24 Hour Party People" feels like a complete artistic achievement. It captures the energy of the music, the feel of it, the basis for the movement so well, but also succeeds at providing a well-told summary of the story of Factory Records, the Hacienda, and Tony Wilson. As far as I'm concerned it's one of the most enjoyable films ever made, and one of the most consistently successful. I don't think there's anything here that falls flat, it's all quite brilliant, from the first scene to the final shot. 10/10

Saw this movie last year on SBS TV (Australia) and it was quite a revelation. It stars comedian Steve Coogan as Tony Wilson, a central figure in the Manchester, England, music scene (on the 'corporate' side of things). I can't say how realistic Coogan's portrayal of Wilson was, as I wouldn't know Wilson from a bar of soap. All I can say is that Coogan gives one of the most charismatic performances I've ever seen (some other charismatic performances I'm quite fond of include Orson Welles as Citizen Kane in the movie of that name, Robert de Niro for one scene in the otherwise dull Mean Streets and for a similar reason, Noah Taylor for one scene in "He died with a felafel in his hand").Coogan plays Wilson as a rather droll person who wears his university education on his sleeve in his media work as an on-air personality (hosting a music show, amongst other things). If you don't have an Arts degree, you may find Wilson to be a bit of a tosser, but as someone with an Arts degree myself, I did find him hugely entertaining and, dare I say it, quite perceptive in his overly analytical dialogues on all manner of subjects.The movie charts the nature of the music industry from pre-Sex Pistols to around the time of New Order. I'm not a huge fan of the bands covered, but I learned a lot of interesting factoids about them. For fans of bands such as Joy Division etc, I'm sure that this movie will be even more rewarding, for purely music fan related reasons.As Wilson, as played by Coogan, might himself say, the movie has many post-modern conceits. As post-modern cultural artefacts go, you'd have to go back to the mid-18th century (to Henry Fielding's novel Tom Jones) to find one as post-modern as this. In other words, expect to see Wilson in this movie pointing out that he really isn't Tony Wilson, and that the real Tony Wilson has a cameo appearance in the movie as a TV director. That scene is actually in the movie and is not a spoiler. Other such cameos are pointed out in the movie.