24 Hour Party People (2002)

	Directed by: Michael Winterbottom	COUNTRY United Kingdom GENRE Music/Biography/ Comedy/Drama NORWEGIAN TITLE 24 Hour Party People RUNNING TIME 117 minutes
	Produced by: Andrew Eaton
	Written by: Frank Cottrell Boyce

Cast includes:
CHARACTER	ACTOR/ACTRESS	RATING
Tony Wilson	Steve Coogan
Lindsay Wilson	Shirley Henderson	½
Martin Hannett	Andy Serkis
Shaun Ryder	Danny Cunningham	½
Ian Curtis	Sean Harris
Boethius	Christopher Eccleston
Rob Gretton	Paddy Considine

Review

Inspired, chaotic, stylistically rich film about the 'Madchester' scene, from the birth of punk music, through the pain and suffering of Joy Division/New Order, the antics of Happy Mondays, and ultimately to the birth (and death) of acid house culture in the late 1980s/early 1990s. All of it is centered around the colourful TV personality, club owner, and music label idealist Tony Wilson. The film is a fountain for music buffs who were either part of the scene or are into the period, and will also provide good laughs for other viewers. We're taken on a ride of visual effects that mirror the life and mind of Wilson. Steve Coogan's lead performance is appropriately offbeat and energetic, and yet, despite a creative approach by director Michael Winterbottom, 24 Hour Party People leaves too many elements underexplored. The character of Ian Curtis (Sean Harris) should have been more probingly examined, and New Order's success is brushed aside with too little screen time. The film awakens your hunger for its subject matter, but is too rash and hasty to fully let you experience the atmosphere of the scene it portrays.