dick_grayson

I've only seen him in Tropic Thunder and Hamlet 2, but heard he had shows on British television and other movies.....

So what should I get? I am region free, fwiw. I was thinking about the Alan Partridge stuff, but figured some of you all would like to chime in or point me in the right direction.

Thanks

dino88

You definitely need to get I'm Alan Partridge and Knowing Me, Knowing You With Alan Partridge. He was also in The Day Today as Partridge, but I've only seen one episode (the dvd is cheap on Amazon.uk). Then check out 24 Hour Party People and Tristram Shandy: A Cock and Bull Story, both decent (it's been awhile since I've seen either so I can't remember how much I like them...24 Hour over Tristram though). I've yet to see Saxondale, but I'm interested in hearing from someone who has.

dick_grayson

well, nobody's gonna see this here.....

cungar

Saxondale is not as funny a character as Alan Partridge but it's pretty great. He plays an aging ex-roadie who's having trouble adjusting to domestic life and a job as an exterminator.

Agree with all your choices. What you listed is pretty amazing stuff. As far as I'm concerned, going Hollywood has pretty much done what I expected it to do to Coogan. Taken away his British comedic edge. I am looking forward to his portrayal of Eddie the Eagle, the British ski jumper. That sounds promising.

Cosmic Bus

dino covered it pretty well. Knowing Me and Alan Partridge are more brilliant than words can express; Saxondale is very good, but more in a bittersweet vein than the wincingly awkward humor of the previous two Coogan shows. He shows up briefly in season six of Curb Your Enthusiasm, too, and his role felt nicely similar to his other TV work.

Outside of Tristram Shandy, which I think is one of the best movies of this decade, I think his film work has been pretty lousy. Haven't seen 24 Hour Party People, though.

dhmac

24 Hour Party People is a must-see.

SPiRAL

I met Steve, he's a really nice guy.

jrsl76

24 Hour Party People

I've met him too. nice guy.

Franchot

Yes, everyone has well covered the better Steve Coogan stuff.

I'd suggest watching the "Knowing Me, Knowing You" series before watching the "I'm Alan Patridge" series. It makes the latter series funnier and makes it make more sense.

"Saxondale" is very good, but I think the Alan Partridge character works better for Coogan. I bought some Steve Coogan TV specials that you can also get on DVD where he plays a variety of characters, but these are hit and miss with the bits he does, in my opinion. (He also did a BBC radio show with the Alan Partridge character which is available on CD and is also very good.)

"Coogan's Run", "Dr. Terrible's House of Horrible", and "I Am Not An Animal" are good, but not as great as the Alan Partridge stuff. Stick with the Partridge stuff and you can't go wrong.

And "24 Hour Party People" is a very good movie, but not necessarily because of Coogan, whereas "Tristram Shandy" is a very good movie because of Coogan.

dino88

Just saw this on Amazon link