Yeah, after watching it I read IMDB reviews for it and one was saying how unlikable Alex was. I found it the opposite, I thought he was a great character and liked him throughout, how can you hate someone who says eggyweggy and steakywakey? :lol:
Compared to the book he is totally unlikeable IMO.
In the book he is a lot more personal and involved with the reader in his narration and the film doesn't really capture this and it makes him seem cold and distant.
He is also less eloquent and doesn't make a point of mentioning any motivation behind his acts (in the film it often looks like he's a total thug and beats people for no reason like the bit at the very beginning where he smashes up on the old homeless man. They also changed a section where he sexually abuses two underage girls he picks up in a record shop, quite reasonably as filming that would have landed the film in even more hot water.)
It is still a great piece of film, though, and uses the better of the two possible endings as in the British publication of the book there is an extra chapter where Alex decides to move on and start a nuclear family with a nice girl as all of his friends from his youth have done. It was one of the most saccharine endings to a book I have ever read. Do not read that last chapter.
I would recommend you read the book if you haven't done already.
I preferred Marty McGuinness in If.... TBH.
