24 Hour Party People Director: Michael Winterbottom Cast: Steve Coogan, Shirley Henderson, Danny Cunningham, Sean Harris
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- DVD Release Date: 01/21/2003
- Original Release: 2002
FOR PARENTS
- Common Sense Rates this for Ages: More
Scenes
Editorial Reviews
Restless and kaleidoscopic despite its sometimes drab digital-video palette, this supremely self-aware docu-comedy canonizes two decades worth of Manchester bands even as it deconstructs the very process of rock 'n roll mythmaking. Steve Coogan is fantastic as Tony Wilson, who was at once pompous and populist, visionary and short-sighted. Through frequent asides in the direction of the audience, smirky voiceovers and likable self-mockery, Coogan personifies the contradictions that fuelled Wilson's remarkably diverse string of musical discoveries. Frank Cottrell Boyce's script risks alienating audience members unfamiliar with the large cast of rock-star characters; in America, where few of these bands ever escaped cult status, all of the grand pop-cultural pronouncements may provoke more head-scratching than head-nodding. But even at its most maddeningly musicological, the film portrays big emotions, big laughs and universal human frailties. The fine supporting cast helps ground Coogan's larger-than-life performance, from Shirley Henderson's swept-aside wife to Sean Harris and Danny Cunningham's voraciously self-destructive creative types. In the end, jack-of-all-trades director Michael Winterbottom nails the particular combination of a time, a place and a sound that can crystallize in front of a global audience, if only for a little while. Brian J. Dillard All Movie Guide
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Why We Rated This Appropriate for Ages 16 and UP
What to watch out for
- Drugs:
Lots of drugs and drinking.
- Language:
Lots of bad language throughout.
- Sex:
Full of sexual references and situations.
- Violence:
Mainly comic violence, but also includes some fistfights and one suicide.
- Messages:
Not an issue.
- Consumerism:
Not an issue.
What Parents Need to Know
About 24 Hour Party People
Parents need to know that although this film is intelligent and witty, it contains extremely strong language (mainly British curse words) and lots of drug use by the bands, as well as sexual references and situations. There are also some fistfights and a suicide.
Families Can Talk About
Families can talk about why this rebellious music became popular when it did. Why do you think this musical/cultural movement was so tied to a world of drugs and self-destruction? Why did Wilson have the faith that he had in the self-destructive characters, and how did the Hacienda Club and Factory Records fly out of his control?
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