Special Correspondents

Special Correspondents is funny but not anything spectacular. It's another one of those comedies where people make bad decisions and semi- funny things happens. I was eager to see this movie due to the cast and the story, and I expected to be entertained after seeing the first trailer. But unfortunately, it fell a little flat.

It's the perfect movie for those times you just want to watch something, be mildly entertained but not forced to really pay attention to the story. If you are easily entertained by stupid things, this movie is for you. But if you are tired of cheap jokes, clichés and stupidity, then this movie might not be for you.

My rating is based on the fact that in the end I did not feel like I had wasted a few hours watching it, it made me silently laugh a few times and it was decent. Decent but not special.

I'm basically a really big fan of Ricky Gervais (and if you haven't seen anything he's done before you should know that he's one of those people who you either love or hate – look him and his work up before continuing!). I pretty much watch whatever he's in, so I was quite happy to find this film on Netflix. At first, I was disappointed, but – I'm pleased to say – that it got better.

It's about a couple of radio news reporters who miss their flight to a war-torn country and have to fake their reports from the comfort of a friend's apartment in New York. However, things don't go too well and begin to spiral out of control. As I watched it I wasn't that impressed with the way it began. Basically, there weren't that many jokes in the opening half hour. I guess that they were trying to set up the characters and general plot, but the ratio of laughter to screen time suffered. However, I'm glad I stuck with it – it gets better.

After the half hour mark it does get funnier. If you've seen the promotional material you'll probably see that Ricky Gervais is starring with Eric Bana. Despite the former Incredible Hulk being the more obvious choice for leading man, I never really felt that it was 'his' film. It's like he's a token leading man to Ricky Gervais. I only noticed in the end credits that the film is both written and directed by Gervais. It's almost like he knows he's not leading man material and did his best to give a more 'traditional' star the chance to 'front' the film. However, Eric Bana never really seemed that comfortable in the role and, despite being the front man, is also the straight man. Gervais (or others) get all the best (and by 'best' I mean funniest) lines and by the time the film ends you sort of realise that it's Gervais' character who, despite being set up as 'Robin' to Bana's 'Batman' was the one who had gone on the journey and been through the character arc.

But, like I said, at the end of the day I was glad I watched it. But then I'm a fan of Gervais and, despite what you may think when you sit down to watch it, it's his film and Bana is actually the supporting cast member. I've seen some reviews on the net saying that 'Special Correspondents' is boring. I wouldn't say that, but I also wouldn't say that many people would feel like they got their money's worth if they'd paid full price to see it at the cinema. Netflix is doing wonders making and broadcasting their own stuff. And this is a prime example. It's sort of a made-for-TV movie which you'll probably enjoy because it's part of your package and haven't really had to pay through the nose to watch.

If comedy is the result of characters' reactions to ridiculous circumstances with ridiculous actions then this is comedy. Not hysterical, but still comedy.

People have focused on Ricky Gervais with this so that's where I will focus, but seriously every performance turned in was appropriate to the film. And for the most part I enjoyed it.

I think if Ricky Gervais did this movie in his usual comedy style it wouldn't have worked at all. This reminds me of a time in the 90's where movies seemed to ask "How many situations can we make the Odd Couple work in?" and if this came out then I don't think it would be met with the same negativity.

It's just a light movie with a collection of decent punchlines and worked well to help pass the time on a lazy Saturday afternoon.

Had it been in theaters I could of taken my grandparents or parents to see it and enjoyed it with them but wouldn't have been pleased to have paid to see it alone.

It's by no means a classic but I'll let it land on the better side of 6.5 stars.

While I like Ricky Gervais, people who talk like he is some sort of comedic cinema great need to look at his works, he certainly tries a lot of different things but as of yet, in my opinion has only been successful in The Invention of Lying, Derek, and Extras... Honestly that's it. He's a writer/ comedian 1st and an actor 3rd.

Yes I know what I said.

In all likelihood it went over many people's heads, considering how inundated we are with pointless comedies that often receive a far higher rating on IMDb or higher ticket sales at the box office.

Great to see Eric Bana killing it again, but this time figuratively in a role as a self-confident, rogue reporter at a local news station. So too is the rest of the hilarious character gallery, along with their quirky foibles, from the manipulative money-grubbing sociopath played by Vera Farmiga to the over-emotional America Ferrera. Not to mention Gervais in the leading actor playing a fumbling doofus technician with low self-esteem, but with the redeemable quality of being kindhearted and well-meaning. Until he snorts coke, that is.. The film has a fair amount of subtle humor baked into the dialogue and contains a broader societal satire e.g. on the superficiality of news media, on the obsession with fame in today's docusoap infested society, and on the callous amorality of the drug gangs of Latin America, etc.

It's also a feelgood movie you leave with a smile, but that nonetheless doesn't suffer from being syrupy and maudlin which is so typical for the genre. The low-budget remake of the original French film feels like a fresh take in a world where Hollywood constantly churns out focus group-tested flavorless rom-coms.

I wasn't sure what I was expecting to be fair, I love Ricky Gervais and I own everything he has done. A lot of negativity had come from various reviews I'd read and I thought - Well I'll be the judge, jury and executioner!

Admittedly the film has a slow start but does build, as the film continued I got more into it and was eventually gripped even though it was quite predictable the direction it was heading in. For me Ricky's on-screen presence makes it automatically feel-good, especially for me as I'm a fan of his work. Occasionally throwing some funny one-liners in, occasionally sounding like his character of Andy Millman from Extras which for me helped keep the Ricky we know and love current. Eric Bana was a great choice to play the main reporter, at first I thought it would be like sticking Arnie with David Jason kind of combo but they play well off each other and have great chemistry, Eric as we know is Australian so a convincing American accent was spot on.

Overall, ignore the harsh reviews, I know it's opinion but let's face it, they ain't got a clue what a genius Ricky is, it's not always about the comedy, the film isn't hilarious but is quite funny in places, Ricky has tried his hand here at something else and I believe pulled it off well. Highly recommended if you love Ricky's work and want to see him try something different then go for it, 9/10 is a deserved rating!