24 Hour Party People

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24 Hour Party People

R

Released Aug 9, 2002

1h 57m

Comedy

Drama

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Popcornmeter

87%

Tomatometer

99 Reviews

87%

Popcornmeter

25,000+ Ratings

Manchester, 1976. Tony Wilson (Steve Coogan) is an ambitious but frustrated local TV news reporter looking for a way to make his mark. After witnessing a life-changing concert by a band known as the Sex Pistols, he persuades his station to televise one of their performances, and soon Manchester's punk groups are clamoring for him to manage them. Riding the wave of a musical revolution, Wilson and his friends create the legendary Factory Records label and The Hacienda club.

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Critics Consensus

The colorful, chaotic 24 Hour Party People nimbly captures the spirit of the Manchester music scene.

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Nell Minow

Common Sense Media

Excellent movie about punk's origins; older teens only.

Rated: 4/5

Aug 26, 2010

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Eric Henderson

Slant Magazine

A light and playful look at the Manchester music scene which spans from the punk explosion to the dawn of acid house.

Jan 31, 2003

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Jamie Russell

BBC.com

Brilliantly realised and hilariously funny.

Rated: 4/5

Nov 4, 2002

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Sean Axmaker

Stream on Demand

Director Michael Winterbottom’s sprawling, jagged film is happily, even willfully unreliable as history and it embraces the tug-of-war between factual events and the stories and legends that have around them.

Apr 6, 2024

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Farah Cheded

A Good Movie To Watch

24 Hour Party People takes the same punk approach to storytelling as its subjects did to music, playfully throwing off the dull constraints that often make based-on-a-true-story movies feel like uninspired celluloid translations of a Wikipedia page.

Nov 25, 2023

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Chris Ludovici

The Spool

It may not be all true, necessarily, but it's super entertaining, and that's what matters in the end, right?

Jan 18, 2020

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Peter F

One of a few essential party movies made in the UK. This, along with Human Traffic, are how party movies should be made.

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

06/07/25

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Dani G

Kind of the same with other label record stories, and also a little annoying editing

Rated 2 out of 5 stars

02/17/25

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Twiggy H

A 'mockcumentary' movie with a great selection of comedic actors, most gone to waste. The film is quite boring - like someone who wasn't 'edgy' trying to make an edgy film for the edgy youth sort of boring. Really gets flat as it goes along. There's a few golden nuggets in it though, like the depiction of Ian Curtis was well done, plus 'Martin' pretty much was the only highlights worth watching. Would actually be a great film had it gone with the angle of having Martin as the main character throughout on a similar storyline.

Rated 1 out of 5 stars

08/13/24

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Chris H

Coogan is very good in this but there are spot on turns aplenty from the rest of the cast. The story itself begins with the stirring and brilliant punk music of the late 70s, but turns (too) rapidly to the turgid, trippy noises of the Happy Mondays. Between these two lie Joy Division and their songs in this film inspired me to listen to a lot of their music online. The contrast between innovative talent (JD) and drug fuelled nothingness (HM) is disappointing to behold, but it is what the Hacienda was all about; so it goes.

Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars

02/26/24

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Jim P

As an old guy from the North of England I grew up loving this kind of music. But I didn't think much of this movie the first time I saw it, back in the day… However, I've just seen it again and it's brilliant! Tongue-in-cheek with an awesome soundtrack!

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

02/07/24

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Torin F

Factory Records. Joy Division. New Order. Happy Mondays. Manchester. From punk to rave, 24 HOUR PARTY PEOPLE chronicles a unique period in music history with an engaging stylistic approach. In depicting the excesses of its title, the film does drag a bit during its two-hour run time. Overall, however, and regardless of your affinity with this particular music scene, its an artful and thoroughly entertaining excursion.

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

08/02/23

Full Review

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Michael Winterbottom

Director

Steve Coogan

Anthony Wilson

Lennie James

Alan Erasmus

Shirley Henderson

Lindsey Wilson

Paddy Considine

Rob Gretton

Andy Serkis

Martin Hannett

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Synopsis

Manchester, 1976. Tony Wilson (Steve Coogan) is an ambitious but frustrated local TV news reporter looking for a way to make his mark. After witnessing a life-changing concert by a band known as the Sex Pistols, he persuades his station to televise one of their performances, and soon Manchester's punk groups are clamoring for him to manage them. Riding the wave of a musical revolution, Wilson and his friends create the legendary Factory Records label and The Hacienda club.

Director: Michael Winterbottom
Producer: Andrew Eaton
Screenwriter: Frank Cottrell Boyce
Distributor: Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
Production Co: Miramax
Rating: R (Sexuality|Drug Use|Strong Language)
Genre: Comedy, Drama
Original Language: English
Release Date (Theaters): Aug 9, 2002, Original
Release Date (Streaming): Sep 16, 2008
Box Office (Gross USA): $1.1M
Runtime: 1h 57m
Sound Mix: Dolby Stereo, Dolby A, SDDS, DTS, Surround, Dolby Digital, Dolby SR

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