Year: 2016
Director: Ricky Gervais
Ricky Gervais can do no wrong. (I’m well aware when making that comment, that for many, he can do no right, since he polarises opinion to the extent there’s hardly anyone who says; ‘he’s okay, I suppose.’)
Where Ricky is supreme however is among the movers and shakers, the big noises in Hollywood and London; not only the stars (and Keith Chegwin) apparently delighted to be humiliated in ‘Extras’, but producers and business corporations, investors prepared to back up Gervais’s various comedy productions with hard cash, despite the fact that not everything RG’s made has hit pay dirt.
The biggest reason for this, is The Office’, his breakthrough piece, the magnificently conceived, observed and acted series which gave the world David Brent, chilled-out entertainer, friend as well as boss, self-obsessed philosopher, twat. On the back of Brent’s status as genuine comedy icon, Gervais has been given what looks like a blank cheque – and quite possibly a blank sheet of paper – to resurrect the Slough dilettante, who continues to follow his self-stated philosophy of ‘live fast, die old’.
Since last seen Brent has suffered a nervous breakdown, been on prozac, undergone a weight gain and – subsequent loss – and is now working as a tampon rep, complete with chainstore suit, hatchback car and rabbit warren like office base. No longer the boss, he’s now 55 and after cashing in some pensions – which yielded ‘almost as much as I put in’, has self-funded a 2 week tour with the reformed Foregone Conclusion, a bunch of young session musicians who hate him so much they won’t let him share the tour bus, have a drink after the gig with him or at one point, even talk to him.
As oblivious to painful reality as ever – more so if anything, Brent is older but he’s also stupider. As the camera follows him into the eye of the entirely expected disaster – empty gigs, derisive punters and an appearance at a University ‘Shitenite’ piss-up, during which someone actually shouts – ‘Gerroff, Grandad!’, you start to wonder if anyone – even Brent – could be that deluded. In shades, leather waistcoats, tight jeans and using long ponderous song intros, the self-unaware absurdity is painted on with a wallpaper brush and as a result, anything resembling believability is smothered in goo.
That’s only part of the problem with the movie. Every piece of action, every plot development – not that there’s much – is telegraphed; after a couple of train wreck gigs, things get worse and worse … until there’s the anticipated twist as the band soften to him, reckoning that he’s ‘not a bad bloke really’.
Item two is the bog-standard Hollywood happy ending when, David, after ignoring her and treating her like his personal chattel, suddenly wisens up and with the light of romance in his eyes, sees the office drudge for who she really is. All Brent ever needed, it seems, was a good shag.
It’s not all bad. Or, at all bad. There are some archetypal quotable moments of cringe, with DB’s endless, perverted attempts to be ideologically clean, leading to him addressing the young rapper he patronises as ‘my nigger’, a surprisingly raw scene which plays far funnier than it looks on paper. There are others and for Brent fans – I’m one – there’s just about enough material to make the film essential viewing, but only with the proviso that this is a film about David Brent, rather than his ‘Office’.
Which is a pity really because there is another office and some of the characters there have distinct comedy potential – Jezza the office bully who think DB’s ‘a cunt’ and Serena who – like anyone who really did have to work with Brent – simply finds him ‘irritating’.
Since Ricky Gervais can do anything he wants, ‘Life on the Road’ is basically a vanity project, satisfying long-held musical pretend-or-maybe-not ‘ambitions’; apparently a Christmas single bid is the plan. Though the music is well played and produced, the songs themselves are boring, with Brent’s clumsy lyrical efforts to be relevant giving us titles like ‘Don’t Make Fun of the Disabled and ‘Equality Street’, a song first mentioned in a classic Office episode, ‘Training Day’ when he referred to it as ‘a political reggae song’. The joke worked better as a title.
RG’s has been at pains to point out that the songs in ‘LOTR’ are not ‘comedy’ but stand up in their own right. They don’t really, they’re amusing enough but whilst ‘Free Love Freeway’ isn’t a bad tune, it’s essentially throwaway; not many people would play it in its own right and it has to be heard in context.
So, whilst Life on the Road definitely appeals to fans of the Brentmeister, there’s too much flimflam and occasional slapstick to compare it favourably or even equally with the observational genius of The Office, which overall, is I suppose, only to be expected. Feature films of comedy series rarely work and whilst it’s not Holiday on the Buses, it does comes across a bit of a contrivance.
Ricky Gervias has succeeded in one way however.
I didn’t love it, didn’t hate it. He managed to evoke a lukewarm response.
It’s okay, I suppose.
Might appeal to people who enjoyed:
The Office. And there are lots of them.
The trailer.
Great review Gary. I’m sold.
Ta JC – as a fan, I think you’ll give at least 5/10.
Spoilers!
Yep, sorry about that. But let’s face it, it’s hardly Agatha Christie.
Well, yes, but a warning is always helpful.
True story, my Gran used to read myriad Agatha Christies from local library. She would read last chapter first, as she couldn’t stand the tension otherwise!
It’s a British comedy movie. All too often they have the back-of-an-envelope plot that a charmless man learns to ‘just be hinmself’ when a pleasant, if under-written, woman falls for him (often for no discernable reason). A variation on this is when the pleasant, if under-written, woman comes between the charmless man and his best mate but it’s all OK in the end. It’s a much a cliche of UK comedies as ‘they all go on holiday’.
I would have hoped for better from Ricky Gervais who I think is capable of real insight as well as humour when he can be bothered. I’ll probably wait until this one comes on telly.
Christ, talk about money for old rope; afraid I’m one of the people who think Gervais is a lucky idiot who is best ignored in order to avoid irritation. And there are a lot of us.
I agree entirely. I wish for a set of circumstances in which both he and Jonathan Ross are expunged from broadcasting. Even the character mercilessly spoofing him in Ben Elton’s delightful Shakespeare sitcom recently was annoying (which was, of course, exactly what that character was meant to be – a smart-arse post-modernist who was actually just an arse).
Thirded. The thing that I’ve always particularly disliked is the overbearing air of smugness that permeates everything he does. The thought that anyone could ever laugh at him bemuses me.
In 20 years time TV nostalgia clip shows will be full of clips of smug, useless, mutual-backslapping sessions between Rick and Ross – along with clips of Rick’s so-called comedy shows – that a future generation will see and think, ‘How did anyone find these bumptious gits in any way entertaining?’ There’s more honesty in watching a Bernard Manning performance from the 70s than any of these nasty, insulting 00s guys doing it all in a supposedly ‘ironic’ way.*
(* Watching either would be a complete waste of time – I’m not advocating Manning!)
I enjoyed that review. Very well written, if you don’t mind me saying.
Cheers. Don’t mind at all.
I preferred Extras to The Office.
There, I’ve said it.
Thanks GJ,
I had seen some absolute pannings and then the Australian newspaper which is pretty rigorous in its reviews was quite complimentary so I’m glad to see this review here- and to read it.
I think your opinion of Ricky depends on your cringe/embarrassment tolerance. I think it’s genius and can’t get enough of it. I thrive on Alan Partridge, Alan Bennett, Mike Leigh films and the like. The more cringe-worthy it is, the better I like it.
But I know people who simply can’t handle that kind of thing and so either watch it through their fingers or write it off altogether.
Agree. Unlike RG, Steve Coogan can act. So much so, he can even portray a archetypical After Worder.
I think someone’s been secretly recording me in the car
My favourite Coogan creation. I have the dvd of the two series. Less is more perfection.
His Led Zep’s Kashmir tribute speech at his roadie friend’s funeral….
That’s the first I’ve seen of that. Must get more….
Got your hair too Conch
Thankfully I don’t have the facial hair though.
How are you on legless flying aces?
That’s from the second series where Tommy really does have the same haircut as me.
And the wonderful Ruth Jones and Rosie Cavaliero are fantastic in that clip.
I don’t think you’re quite right there, JC. I love Alan Bennett, Mike Leigh and Partridge, but I just cannot abide Gervais.
Perhaps we can find some common ground?
For me The Office and Extras are genius. However, Ricky’s movies have been almost universally tripe and I can’t stand to watch him on talk shows because he laughs too loud and too often.
Fair comment?
Absolute fair comment – spot on.
I share your feelings about Ricky Gervais and his “output”.
His early short stuff on the 11 O’Clock Show was more amusing to me because of the constant reference to Whitley and Reading (my home town).
The Office was pretty close to reality, perfectly portraying some of the nob ends I’ve worked with.
Extras was great and debunking celebrities who were “up themselves” – ironic really, because the Ricky Gervais was starting to become one of those “up themselves” celebrities.
He really did start to believe his own hype after this and his constant gurning, squealing and giggling on any TV show that would grant him an audience gets right on me wick
I think he is unfairly derided and largely because he has become ‘popular’. He pushes the boundaries which all great comedians should strive to do. Then he comes out with something as poignant as Derek and still gets slated. He clearly can’t win.
If you want safe stick to Bruce Forsyth who is as funny as genital herpes.
Cheers JW.
I’m one of those people who have now become allergic to RG. I watched The Office when it came out and thought that it was a great thing. I have never re-watched it and wonder would I still be able to enjoy it as much, or, would over-familiarity with some scenes (e.g.The Dance) plus finding it hard to watch Gervais these days ruin the original series.
Watched the first series of Extras, found it hard to get enthused. I couldn’t get away from how Gervais seemed to be telegraphing the fact that he was delighted that Ben Stiller or whoever had showed up. I couldn’t stay inside the show because it bugged me so much. It was so unsubtle. Compared to Garry Shandling and The Larry Sanders Show, where the celebrity appearances worked perfectly with the flow of the show. Can you imagine Garry Shandling banging on about how he used to email David Bowie? And while we’re at it, have we all seen the car crash that is Ricky Gervais Meets Garry Shandling?
The podcasts were funny at first until it came to a point where they seemed to tip into abuse. One episode of Life Is Short was enough. One episode of Derek was too many.
Has he made a decent movie? No. Have they made a profit? Not much.
He is hugely successful, mainly from The Office, and mainly from the US version, where his Creator/Producer credit on the 200 episodes that are now in syndication ensures a lottery-sized income for the foreseeable future. And yet he remains thin-skinned about any criticism, talking himself into knots about being offended and free-speech, and sounding hugely dumb in the process. He plays all innocent when he sends his Twitter mob on some poor passerby. He claims to not care about things, while reminding you of all his awards. Some say it’s his schtick, but I don’t think so. Where has Merchant, the so-called moderating influence, gone? He’s notably absent from Life On The Road. Maybe that’s why in the first trailer for LOTR, Brent is engaging in some sexually-explicit banter which, you know, would get him sacked from pretty much every office in the land. I can’t see that happening in the original series. As for “Don’t Make Fun of The Disableds” – there is so little comic validity in that song. It just doesn’t make sense.
If you want to see comedy plus musical chops just call up any Lonely Island video. Here’s one. I’m going to guess it has a greater laugh-density than Life On The Road. And you will be humming the tune later.
Anyway, it doesn’t matter. LOTR is going straight to Netflix in the rest of the world, can’t see anyone caring about any future RG movie. Whether he likes it or not, his appeal is becoming more selective, and he’s not doing the Golden Globes next year, Jimmy Fallon is. Still, hats off to his self-belief, there’s hope for us all.
(BTW, I did like your review @garyjohn !)
When I read LOTR I thought he’d been doing a sexually explicit trailer for Lord of the Rings.
I started to watch The Office again recently, and it seemed incredibly dated in a way that classic sitcoms from years before just aren’t – Porridge, for example, as fresh as the day it was written. I loved The Office first time round, in all its cringeworthy brilliance, but there came a point when I suddenly started to wonder where David Brent ended and Ricky Gervais began, and then I realised that every part Gervais played subsequently was a variation on David Brent, which blurred the edges even more. And as Ricky Gervais’s self-satisfaction and ego overtook even James Corden-like proportions, he morphed into David Brent entirely, and became insufferable and unwatchable, for me at least.
I think you might be right DrJ. Has Ricky been found out? There’s plenty of marketing dough behind ‘Life on the Road’; here in Melbourne there are posters everywhere – trams, buses and billboards, yet the cinema I saw it in was almost empty. Ricky is a genuine phenomenon, like him or not. Unlike Steve Coogan for example, he’s no actor – as his various mainstream movie appearances have starkly revealed – but In The Office he hit upon a rich vein of comedy, now quite possibly running dry.
I’ve a feeling he’s shot his bolt.
Fantastic review @garyjohn.
Has there ever been a truly great film spinoff from a (UK) sitcom?
In The Loop…
Porridge, Likely Lads and perhaps Steptoe and Dads Army.
It’s convinced me to sneak off and have a couple of hours in the darkness. Even if i will love hating it, at least I’ve shown the love.
Sounds ghastly. Loved Office but this sounds shark like.
The Office was great.
Extras was OK, but not as good.
After that …
His stand up shows were OK, but ended up relying on “shock”
His films never felt complete (Cemetery Junction? What the bloody hell was that all bout?)
Maybe he saw this as his chance to re-live past glories (and why not, its all about re-makes and re-boots now), but there is one big glaring omission:
Stephen Merchant
OOAA of course – I thought there was some great humour in Cemetery Junction – The Noddy gag for starters.
I fall into the ‘this is cringeworthy and therefore not entertainment’ camp when it comes to The Office, but my Juanita loves RG, so this afternoon I took her to the pictures. I’d read your review in advance Gary, so I was prepared for the worst (I read it as a warning, not a recommendation). After 5 minutes I was already thinking how I might be able to leave her there and come back when it was over. I get how he has taken the cash to make a movie because a studio was dumb enough to pay him, but I fail to see how people could ‘enjoy’ that movie. My wife’s first comment when we were exiting the theatre was, “well that was quite serious, wasn’t it?” Whatever levity she had found in the TV series was obviously not there for her in LOTR. He’s done better work, for sure. This really isn’t worthy of your hard-earned dosh.
I will not be seeing this. A half-star review in the SMH is good enough for me.
Mind you, I enjoyed the Ab Fab film (which got 3 stars). And I went to that cos it was an outing with my daughter.
Ricky is funny and talented and the original Office was ground-breaking. But he’s not Woody Allen.
I went to see this today at a 10am showing. There were only 5 people in the cinema including me and her indoors. Mind you, who in their right mind is seeing a movie at that hour except OAPs and the unemployed? There was one bloke sitting on his own with a backpack who looked like a slow learner, too,
I really enjoyed it, although it did have the feel of a long TV episode. Some misery guts up-thread gravely observed that there was a scene early on with two female co-workers which would have got Brent the sack in a real office. Well, I can’t help wondering if that person has ever seen any of the Hollywood gross-out comedies such as The Hangover series? It’s a comedy for chrissakes, not bloody Panorama or a real life documentary.
*SPOILER ALERT*
It kind of fell apart for me toward the end when, for no apparent reason, his bandmates who have up to that point found him to be a prize wanker and hated the very ground he walked on, suddenly and without warning warm to Brent and start feeling sorry for him and claim he’s not such a bad guy after all. Then, as Gary, says above, he gets the girl and it’s a happy ending.
Otherwise, it was a good movie with some genuine LoL moments, which I very seldom do.
When I have nothing better to do I occasionally sneak off to Sunnybank, S E Asia central, for a spot of lunch at one of approx 100 Chinese, Vietnamese, Korean, Malaysian or Thai eateries, followed by a movie in one of the roughly 20 screens at Hoyts. I generally have the cinema more or less to myself, which suits me – nobody scarfing popcorn and fizz out of huge buckets.
When The Exorcist first came out I saw it in the company of half a dozen pensioners one Wednesday afternoon. In the silence after one particularly gross sequence a quavering voice said, ‘Oo, I didn’t know it was going to be like this…’
On warm Sunday mornings I sometimes ride my bike 10km down the coast to catch the 9.30am showing of a movie. As you say, it’s a real luxury being almost the only person in the cinema and not having to deal with the hoi polloi and their mobile phones, yakking and noisy eating and drinking habits.
I saw Fellowship Of The Ring in a cinema in San Diego, 2002, one morning. Only one other person in the whole auditorium. That was very cool. Huge screen, huge speakers. Felt like I had the place to myself.
Glad you enjoyed it JC. Although it’s far from perfect and the ending stretches credibility to breaking point – (‘if I work overtime, I’ll have enough money to do it all again next year?’), there were, as you say genuine laughs. Definitely not, as some reviewers have claimed ‘amongst the worst films of the year.’
I sat through the endless credits (by which time we were alone in the cinema) to see if there were any hidden bits at the end (there weren’t) but in the process noticed the there was no mention of Stephen Merchant. I knew he and Ricky are working separately these days, but thought he may have been involved in this considering it was originally a joint project.
“Some misery guts up-thread gravely observed that there was a scene early on with two female co-workers which would have got Brent the sack in a real office.”
How did you know I was a misery guts!? No but seriously, my problem with that scene wasn’t the gross-out nature of it, it was rather that it lacked comic integrity within the Brent universe. I know that sounds hugely pretentious but bear with me. The premise of The Office is that it is an actual reality show, and that is the foundation for how the show executes things, but also for how the audience interprets it. If memory serves (and it’s been over a decade) in the original show, although Brent says he’s an entertainer, etc, he actually is alright as a boss and loyal to the people he has working with in WernamHogg. I think Gervais has taken Brent away from that and made him a broadly comic figure, which he is free to do, but The Office didn’t set itself up as a sitcom about a wacky, inappropriate boss. It was the reality aspect of the show that brought audiences in and created the comedy. This has cast a long shadow over all comedy in the last 15 years. (Even though RG wasn’t the first to do that kind of thing, there was Larry Sanders and People Like Us, but The Office brought it mainstream)
From a critical point of view, Gervais wants to have his cake and eat it. He wants to go for the wacky laugh, but it’s at the expense of the realism that anchors the show. And without an anchor, you’re adrift. It seems that Merchant might have been that anchor creatively.
If you think I think about this too much, you may be right, but you probably haven’t spent any time on the Cookd and Bombd comedy message board. There are pages and pages of this kind of dissection.
It sucked. Badly.
This is the whole problem with youngpeoplesspeak. If a film is poor it sucks. So, if it is abysmal it must suck by a greater amount. The worst films, therefore, suck like [*end of post redacted as it makes potentially libellous claims about “yo mama”*]
LOL. Yeah, sorry man. Lazy old me! It was shite though. I loved the Office but this, meh! Yes, it sucked. This is an appropriate response to this movie.
Great review. Enjoyed the Office and seriously loved the US spin off. Haven’t felt the need to see this, but will no doubt watch it on the small screen.
In the great tradition of rescussitated Afterword blogs, I bought a DVD of this in a charity shop this morning and watched it this afternoon. A lot of the above says it for me, and there is the success and shortcoming of the movie. There are some excellent, if cringemaking, moments which typically involve Brent’s insistence on being an ‘entertainer’ over riding any qualms he has about using gender or race for subject matter (the documentary format allows for another character to say something about he doesn’t believe Brent is racist, he just doesn’t know how to behave). But the plot is paper thin, and the moments don’t add to a satisfying arc. Brent has moved on slightly from his office days, but the film captures a moment in his life during which he is pretty much static and the other characters around him have to impose development on him when it doesn’t come from Brent himself. Worth the quid I paid for it, and I’m sure I’ll watch it again waiting for particular bits to crop up.
Good review. It fell far short of my expectations but nonetheless I still found it fairly entertaining. The David Brent character is easily one of the finest British comic creations of all time, alongside Alf Garnett, Basil Fawlty, Wolfie Smith, Norman Stanley Fletcher, Del Trotter and Alan Partridge.