Alan Partridge (Coogan) is as annoying as ever. A DJ who is immensely aware of his own popularity and image, he cares about nothing and no one but himself. If there's a way to save his own hide, he'll stoop low enough to make sure that his job, and more importantly his large ego, stay intact. Partridge is definitely the kind of guy who follows the motto that as long as someone's talking about you, then there's no such thing as bad publicity.
Everything gets a little complicated when Alan's radio station is bought by a new company and changes their image to a more modern taste and a different sound. Which means that they're looking to fire someone and only two possible people are on the list: Alan and Pat Farrell (Colm Meaney). When Alan convinces (or rather begs) the station to fire Pat and keep him (in a display of humorous desperation), Pat eventually goes off the deep end and holds the station's employees hostage, forcing Alan to be the middle man between Pat and the police. And the whole time, poor Pat still thinks that Alan has his best interest at heart.
British comedy is always less subtle than American comedy. It's a little more fast-paced and either you get the jokes and humor off the bat or you don't. There's no pause button that gives you a cue of when to laugh. And that's exactly what Alan Partridge feeds off of. Many fans liked the first series of the show better than the second and third, and some may be split on whether the film still holds a candle to the show, but there's no denying that this film has a spark.
It starts off slow and the laughs are few and further between, but as the film progresses, so does its comedy. Steve Coogan is as awkwardly funny as ever. His character's annoying but never so much so that it's obnoxious, and yet when he is being slightly irritating, that's when the laughs are the most. The supporting cast gets enough to do that they're not just extras, and some of the funniest scenes are between Coogan and Meaney, both awkward and slightly strange in different ways.
Alan Partridge is exactly the kind of person who society looks up to and hates at the same time. He's a fame whore who's only concerned with being talked about and popular, doesn't care about hurting other people to get what he wants, and is rude and demeaning a lot of the time. Yet, somehow the people love him, though it's unclear whether it's because of his attempt at being charming and charismatic or because he's an entertaining DJ. It's a really interesting point of discussion about the desperation for fame and the meaning of having some kind of moral code. Partridge even uses the hostage situation for press, trying to gain as much news coverage as possible, even continuing radio hosting with Pat while under lockdown.
Perhaps this is reading too much into the Alan Partridge character and what he stands for. Ultimately, the film is pretty entertaining with some laugh-out-loud moments from around halfway through until the end. Steve Coogan's comedy is sometimes hit or miss with some people, but he's pretty humorous in a role he's been playing for awhile. You don't need to be a fan of the show to find enjoyment out of this movie, which is endearing regardless of its overly simple plot and sometimes asinine sense of humor. Just wait for the scene where the cast makes up a new jingle for Pat's radio show while under threat of being shot and you'll know this is worthy of a laugh. 
