9 Movies That Completely Misunderstood Their Own Characters

5. Alan Partridge: Alpha Papa

The Character - Alan Partridge

The genius, egotistical invention of Steve Coogan, taking in radio and TV stereotypes with aching accuracy, world's worst boss cliches and a mild sociopathy that means pretty much everything he does is wrong-headed. He's not entirely malicious, but he's self-serving, arrogant and entirely lacks any sense of self-awareness.

That makes him sound awful to watch, but he's not: he's a creation of vast intellect and nuance with deep complexity and he's SUPPOSED to be as repugnant as he is tragically foolish. He's fundamentally not one to empathise with.

But In THIS Movie

Obviously, Alpha Papa is designed to be a sort of Die Hard parody, with Partridge reimagined as a very bad candidate to stand in for John McClane. But in order for that to work, you have to throw away everything you know about Partridge.

There's just no way the Alan we see in his TV shows would be this selfless. He is not a hero and the idea that he could be the saviour of anything is laughable - but then that's sort of the point of the movie. It's just a shame it wasn't brave enough to go with a mor downbeat ending to suit Alan's usual spirit.

In seeking more mainstream success, the film-makers fundamentally blunted Partridge and made him too much a quirky everyman, rather than a complex, muddled no-man.