Ricky Gervais revisits the creation he and Stephen Marchant created that started him off to fame and fortune. Probably his best-loved character the insufferable fool David Brent. Originally, he was the boss at the Wernham Hogg ‘Office’ Brent was a brilliant monster created of all the parts to many idiots we have all had to work with or come across but had just enough pathos and sympathy thrown into the mix to make him bearable and elicit some form of sympathy.
Gervais obviously felt it was time to grow the goatee dust off the suit and bring us up to date with David Brent.
Therein lie the rub. Whilst everything you know about Brent is there and is very funny nothing has moved on for him. So, we are treated to whole slew of the usual car-crash remarks, looks and moments from the life of a man who we are told has lost his management role, nearly lost his mind, apparently lost a lovely girlfriend (from the TV show) and is not particularly liked by half of his work colleagues. Much loved TV comedy brought the big screen has the words ‘flop’ etched next to it more than ‘hit’ and perhaps Gervais should have looked at the past before he embarked on this project. Alan Partridge: Alpha Papa is a much better take on this idea. The difference between the two is what makes one film good and one film m’eh. Alan Partridge is, more-or-less, a 90% unlikable egomaniac idiot and Steve Coogan keeps him true to that and moves him into a situation which he has never been in before and is unusual and unlikely – you know he’ll come out of it, but how? Ricky Gervais wants the audience to like David Brent so although he does and says many idiotic and awful things we have a finale that seems at odds with the rest of the story. This part, whilst it makes you smile, makes the film feel a bit flat at the end.
Despite my review sounding like I disliked the film I in fact mostly enjoyed it. There are certainly some great moments in both the watching through your fingers and laughing out loud that you expect with David Brent’s adventures. The introduction of Ben Bailey Johnson’s rapper ups the quotient and gives you many scenes where you feel you should not be laughing but you are. Johnson is certainly a bright spot in this film.
Except for David Brent, no characters from the original Office TV show are in the film but if you look closely they are. See if you can spot Gareth, Tim, Lucy and Finchy at least. They are there. This is a shame because with the clout Gervais must have nowadays he really could have pushed this boat out in a new riskier direction. In the end, he was safe and gave us David Brent in the same situations that we are used to and happy with. It is funny. It is cringeworthy.
The redemption for a character that is clearly close to Grevais’ heart at the film’s close was bordering on unreal, after all Brent is an insufferable, idiotic and at times downright insufferable fool and basically only three characters actually liked him throughout the film, so everyone rallying around and socialising him? Not really and it weakens the story.
Maybe though this is the marker for that glorious monster Mr. Brent and it is time to say goodbye to Slough, or should that be Reading’s, most infamous son?
Review by DeletedBlockedParent2017-04-19T19:52:12Z
Ricky Gervais revisits the creation he and Stephen Marchant created that started him off to fame and fortune. Probably his best-loved character the insufferable fool David Brent. Originally, he was the boss at the Wernham Hogg ‘Office’ Brent was a brilliant monster created of all the parts to many idiots we have all had to work with or come across but had just enough pathos and sympathy thrown into the mix to make him bearable and elicit some form of sympathy.
Gervais obviously felt it was time to grow the goatee dust off the suit and bring us up to date with David Brent.
Therein lie the rub. Whilst everything you know about Brent is there and is very funny nothing has moved on for him. So, we are treated to whole slew of the usual car-crash remarks, looks and moments from the life of a man who we are told has lost his management role, nearly lost his mind, apparently lost a lovely girlfriend (from the TV show) and is not particularly liked by half of his work colleagues.
Much loved TV comedy brought the big screen has the words ‘flop’ etched next to it more than ‘hit’ and perhaps Gervais should have looked at the past before he embarked on this project. Alan Partridge: Alpha Papa is a much better take on this idea. The difference between the two is what makes one film good and one film m’eh. Alan Partridge is, more-or-less, a 90% unlikable egomaniac idiot and Steve Coogan keeps him true to that and moves him into a situation which he has never been in before and is unusual and unlikely – you know he’ll come out of it, but how? Ricky Gervais wants the audience to like David Brent so although he does and says many idiotic and awful things we have a finale that seems at odds with the rest of the story. This part, whilst it makes you smile, makes the film feel a bit flat at the end.
Despite my review sounding like I disliked the film I in fact mostly enjoyed it. There are certainly some great moments in both the watching through your fingers and laughing out loud that you expect with David Brent’s adventures. The introduction of Ben Bailey Johnson’s rapper ups the quotient and gives you many scenes where you feel you should not be laughing but you are. Johnson is certainly a bright spot in this film.
Except for David Brent, no characters from the original Office TV show are in the film but if you look closely they are. See if you can spot Gareth, Tim, Lucy and Finchy at least. They are there. This is a shame because with the clout Gervais must have nowadays he really could have pushed this boat out in a new riskier direction. In the end, he was safe and gave us David Brent in the same situations that we are used to and happy with. It is funny. It is cringeworthy.
The redemption for a character that is clearly close to Grevais’ heart at the film’s close was bordering on unreal, after all Brent is an insufferable, idiotic and at times downright insufferable fool and basically only three characters actually liked him throughout the film, so everyone rallying around and socialising him? Not really and it weakens the story.
Maybe though this is the marker for that glorious monster Mr. Brent and it is time to say goodbye to Slough, or should that be Reading’s, most infamous son?