Alan Partridge: Alpha Papa / We're The Millers / The Heat

Time for some comedy and three films that tickle the required funny bone if, as they say, you like that sort of thing. Cinema is littered with the corpses of big screen versions of successful British sitcoms (see The Inbetweeners Movie for the most recent evidence) so hopes aren't high for Alan Partridge: Alpha Papa as Steve Coogan and Armando Iannucci finally bring their fictional radio presenter to the silver screen. However a genius such as Iannnucci rarely puts a foot wrong and there's plenty of laugh out loud moments here from the usual one-liners ("She's a drunk racist. I can accept one of those things, but not both") to surreal silliness (the best radio jingle you'll hear for quite a while) as Partridge finds himself caught up in a siege at his local radio station. However the script appears to have been caught between trying to appeal to a new audience by introducing some broader (i.e. cruder) laughs and indulging the hard core fans. Iannucci and company couldn't win either way on that front I guess, but the consensus from the long term believers (which include myself) is that this isn't as bad as was feared. Not sure if that is a recommendation or not, but the fact that it's been almost twenty years since AP was in his prime and this can still raise moments of ruddy hilarity shows that there may be life in the old Partridge yet. Talking of broader laughs, Rawson Marshall Thurber's We're The Millers has, amongst other things, a tarantula biting Will Poulter's privates. However, don't let that put you off as there's a surprising amount of heart here amongst the filth as, on finding himself in the hole to a kingpin, a local pot dealer (Jason Sudeikis) is forced into moving a huge amount of marijuana from Mexico into the US. In order to remain as inconspicuous as possible he creates a fake family involving a stripper (Jennifer Aniston), a teenage runaway (Emma Roberts) and his abandoned-by-his-parents neighbour (Poulter). In effect this is a road movie with the plot no more than a number of scenes in which the faux family interact with a range of characters (Hello, Luis Guzman!) whilst trying to avoid ending up in the slammer or the morgue. This isn't the type of film where a director can do much with the camera, but much like Thurber's last film (Dodgeball) he knows that the idea behind this kind of production is to just let it all hang out and hope the comedic hits outweigh the misses. The lack of subtlety is highlighted in the much promoted (hmm, can't think why) Aniston strip scene where Thurber has Sudeikis break the fourth wall with an expression that says "Well, what did you expect?".It's a bit odd, but at least it's honest. More hit and miss laughs come in the shape of The Heat, starring Melissa McCarthy and Sandra Bullock. Paul Feig surprised all with his 2011 sleeper hit Bridesmaids (though Annie Mumolo and Kristen Wiig's cracking script had a big hand in that) and here he re-teams with that films break out star McCarthy. The last time we had a female buddy cop movie was Feds (back in 1988!) and if you can remember that you'll probably understand why there hasn't been one since. However, screenwriter Katie Dippold's debut script has plenty of positives going for it and McCarthy and Bullock play off each other nicely. Could have done a bit better on the editing front mind as McCarthy's improvised scenes drag on way too much at times and the jokes about albinism (though if you know this genre you'll get the reference) are a bit off pat. Worth catching though for the moment when Bullock's uptight copper finally loses her rag and unleashes a grammatically challenged string of expletives. Partridge Rating: 6/10. Millers Rating: 7/10. The Heat Rating: 7/10.