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It's Manchester, 1976. Tony Wilson (Steve Coogan) is a local TV reporter
tired of getting stuck with all the fluff pieces (like a sheep-herding
duck) and dangerous stunts (hand-gliding 101) that masquerade as news.
When he and his wife Lindsey (Shirley Henderson) attend a concert by an
unknown group called the Sex Pistols, it changes his life forever. He gets
them on television and soon has punk groups looking to Wilson for exposure
- he decides he wants to give their music to the world.
Wilson and his friend, Alan Erasmus (Lennie James), approach band manager
Rob Gretton (Paddy Considine) and together they start up Factory Records.
Later the three men open The Hacienda Club (the birthplace of the rave)
to showcase their bands - like Joy Division, New Order, and The Happy Mondays.
Wilson doesn't make any money, but his efforts change the music industry
forever.
The movie showcases the music of several of these punk bands and it's something
that you either like or don't like before you come to the theatre. But
even if you aren't a punk fan, there is merit to the movie - due to the
performance of Steve Coogan. He's terrific when he's on screen, especially
when talking directly to the camera about his "little film".
He's hilarious and does some tongue-in-cheek comedy to let you know he
knows the movie is all about him.
There are too many shots of the nightclub scene with nothing happening but people bouncing around. After a while, the movie starts to feel long and gets more than a little tedious. Director Michael Winterbottom has a problem editing out the non-essential and keeping the story moving - this is a much better effort than his last movie (The Claim), but he still needs to work on this.
This is a must-see movie for fans of any of the bands from the Factory
Records label as well as punkers of today (it's scary to think these people
are the same age now as your parents - that is, the ones that are still
alive). You get the sense of excitement as if you were one of the 42 people
that attended that first Sex Pistols concert yourself.
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