neumu [ cinematronic ]




	24 Hour Party People
	Michael Winterbottom Steve Coogan, Shirley Henderson, Paddy Considine, Sean Harris, Danny Cunningham, Andy Serkis, Chris Coghill, Lennie James 2002		Witty, urbane and kinetic, "24 Hour Party People" is so energizing that watching it is like inhaling a tank full of oxygen with an Ecstasy chaser, even if a lot of the film takes place in smoky nightclubs and marijuana-hazy back rooms. Director Michael Winterbottom's gleefully fictionalized docu-comedy traces the rise and demise of the "Madchester" music scene in Manchester, England, from the '70s to the '90s and dramatizes some of the key bands that made it vital: Joy Division, New Order, Buzzcocks and Happy Mondays. The centerpiece of "24 Hour Party People" is a marvelous, tongue-in-cheek turn by British comic Steve Coogan. He has a ball as TV news reporter Tony Wilson, crazed visionary behind the influential indie-record label Factory Records and the landmark techno-disco The Hacienda, cited as the birthplace of rave culture. A doughty ensemble personifies the gaggle of musicians, producers and hangers-on that made it happen, a few of the original party people have small parts, and the period soundtrack rules!