24 Hour Party People Movie Review

24 Hour Party People (2002)

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Written by: Frank Cottrell Boyce
Directed by: Michael Winterbottom
Starring: Steve Coogan, Lennie James, John Thomson, Paddy Considine, Andy Serkis
Rated: R
Watch the trailer

Plot
In 1976, Tony Wilson sets up Factory Records and brings Manchester's music to the world.

Verdict
It wants to capture the spirit of the era rather than the accuracy of the history. I didn't grow up with the music, so this just never felt relevant. While it has fun with the narrative and breaking the fourth wall, I never connected because this is mood over story. It takes place during the birth of punk and rave culture, and this has a lot of what I expect, bands more interested in having fun than making music and the producer suffering because of it. That's the feeling that pervades the movie, and it's more of a party than a movie.
Skip it.

Review
Told through the unreliable narrator Tony Wilson (Steve Coogan), it's a chaotic story that starts with punk music, the movie mirroring the subject. This frequently breaks the fourth wall to provide insight.

Wilson is an attention seeking reporter, that sees an opportunity. At first he highlights punk bands in a weekly segment before he opens a venue to showcase punk rock. You can't get that music anywhere else, and it's in stark contrast with the music that's on television.

This is filmed like a documentary, with Wilson pointing out milestones and items of interest. He and the bands are flying by the seat of their pants. They don't have a plan, they're just pursuing music. Wilson starts his own record label, signing the contract literally in blood.

Steve Coogan plays Tony Wilson

We see the ups and downs of punk music origins. Wilson seems more interested in the publicity than the business. He's a promoter, right in the middle of this cultural movement and signing bands to his label. As the movie states, this isn't about Tony, it's about the people that made the music and the turbulent times. Tony is just the one at the middle of it. He creates a label that's a boon for punk music, starts a club which directly led to rave culture. The problem with that, rave culture is about drugs and Tony can't sell drugs in his club and the patrons aren't buying what he's selling. Tony's club is losing money, and his record label only makes money when the bands release an album. His artists aren't making music which means his businesses are flailing.

These bands had a big impact on culture, and what was happening behind the music is even wilder. The relationships within and outside the bands are absurd and dysfunctional. We don't know what really happened, and this notes that. Since I'm not knowledgeable about British punk rock, it's difficult to distinguish what's important. I've heard of the bands, but I don't know a lot of the music. In most music movies, getting artists to create music is often the most difficult part, and that's no different here.