Steve Coogan is not only a very good comedian but he can also be a very good actor.
Having watched him in the brilliant Ideal Homes and then as Martin Sixsmith in the moving Philomena, not to mention his reprisal of his monstrous Alan Partridge in Alpha Papa I looked forward to his role in Hot Air. However, the film never seemed to work. It could not decide what it wanted to be. Was it a satire on shock jock right-wing radio pundits? Or an exploration of damaged human beings where "the sins of the mother" are foisted on to the children?
Coogan never seemed totally at ease in his character either. The brutal and selfish Lionel seemed a caricature and although Coogan is famous for his impersonations - starting out on Spitting Image in the 1980s - in this his American accent slips at times to leave him sounding slightly Irish.
Was I mistaken or was there a homage to Network and Peter Finch in the television debate when Lionel lets rip at the audience at home and in the studio? He wasn't quite "mad as hell" but he was certainly angry.
The ending of the movie with the "redemption" of of this monster by his young niece was also decidedly schmaltzy.
To use an old Elkan Allan rating "Don't waste your time"
Having watched him in the brilliant Ideal Homes and then as Martin Sixsmith in the moving Philomena, not to mention his reprisal of his monstrous Alan Partridge in Alpha Papa I looked forward to his role in Hot Air. However, the film never seemed to work. It could not decide what it wanted to be. Was it a satire on shock jock right-wing radio pundits? Or an exploration of damaged human beings where "the sins of the mother" are foisted on to the children?
Coogan never seemed totally at ease in his character either. The brutal and selfish Lionel seemed a caricature and although Coogan is famous for his impersonations - starting out on Spitting Image in the 1980s - in this his American accent slips at times to leave him sounding slightly Irish.
Was I mistaken or was there a homage to Network and Peter Finch in the television debate when Lionel lets rip at the audience at home and in the studio? He wasn't quite "mad as hell" but he was certainly angry.
The ending of the movie with the "redemption" of of this monster by his young niece was also decidedly schmaltzy.
To use an old Elkan Allan rating "Don't waste your time"