24 Hour Party People MGM / UA Restricted/Comedy - Scenes of nudity, sex, drugs and violence Starring Steve Coogan, Keith Allen, Rob Brydon, Enzo Cilenti, Ron Cook, Chris Coghill, Paddy Considine, and Danny Cunningham Directed by: Michael Winterbottom Visit the official site HERE!
Highly recommended - 4 1/2 Beans out of 5

"The legendary story of Tony Wilson, Factory Records, Joy Division, New Order, Happy Mondays, the music, the madness and the mayhem that was Manchester." 24 Hour Party People is an inspired pseudo-documentary that gives a riveting, buoyant insider look at the Manchester music scene, from the first Sex Pistols concert (with a sparse crowd that included future members of The Clash, The Buzzcocks and Joy Division) up to the events that led to a 1997 bankruptcy. British comic Steve Coogan plays Tony Wilson, an idealist in the post-punk movement who promotes his favorite bands on his "So It Goes" TV show. Tony and his friends start up Factory Records, one of the most important and least financially successful recording companies in British history. Wilson soon signed music illuminaires Joy Division (who reformed as New Order after the suicide of their lead singer) and Manchester icons the Happy Mondays, opening the legendary Hacienda rave club along the way. Wilson isn't in it for the money but instead endeavors to make great art and turn people on to exciting new bands. When Factory Records' burgeoning success gets investor interest and large buyout offers, we learn that capitalism wasn't on his mind. Wilson split profits 50-50, gave complete creative freedom and signed no contracts with his artists. "We are not really a company," he explains to the startled investors, "We are an experiment in human nature. I protected myself from the dilemma of selling out by having nothing to sell." Intense performances by Sean Harris as Ian Curtis and early footage of the Sex Pistols adds edgy gritty reality to the events that shaped this influential scene. The movie records a time when the inmates ran the asylum. 24 Hour Party People is an impressive film that is outspoken, roaringly funny and relentlessly in your face. 4 1/2 Beans out of 5