• I’ve seen a dozen Winterbottom films and I feel nearly certain that he won’t make a better film
  • 4 star raves from Travers and Ebert
  • Coogan absolutely gives one of 2002’s best performances as Tony Wilson
  • Winterbottom infuses a heavily arsenal of stylistic highlights- he blends bits of live footage with handheld video (main source for this movie), also bounces this off video black and white in a quick montage- gives a real feeling of intimacy- the lack of production has real film formal meaning- feels very Betamax or VCR—almost like part Dogma 95 movement and part danny boyle energy in trainspotting
  • Reflexive great ironic narrator is a character and also steps out to break the fourth wall and announce “this is the second act”- he even quotes john ford’s “print the legend” famous line
  • Part biopic (of Wilson) part tribute to Manchester-travelogue along with part study of a music movement and era (punk and new wave)
  • Loud visual title intros of people and places in neon- very 80’s feeling
  • Definitely a who’s who of british actors from the decade- with coogan there is Shirley Henderson, paddy considine, andy Serkis, simon pegg has a small role—also tons of cameos from iggy pop on down—sean harris is a standout as ian Curtis from joy division- very distinct dancing and he’s mesmerizing on screen
  • A top 5 of the year quality film
  • Must-see