David Brent: a Vida na Estrada

Ricky Gervais. Chances are you'll either love him or hate him. And, basically, your enjoyment of his latest film 'David Brent: Life on the Road' will largely depend on whether you're a fan, or find him excruciatingly annoying. Like most people, they 'found' Gervais during his award-winning BBC sitcom 'The Office' where he played the self-proclaimed 'chilled out entertainer' David Brent (or 'boss from hell' as the rest of the world referred to him as). So, if you're a fan of either the character, or the cringe-worthy humour he specialises in.

There's always that worry when a good show which is usually half an hour is suddenly dragged out for a feature length movie's runtime that it's going to dip in places and fall flat in others. I'm pleased to say that 'David Brent: Life on the Road' does not suffer from this (too much). Yes, I loved The Office and have followed Gervais' career ever since, so I was crossing my fingers for the best. This film does deliver. It serves as a 'sequel' to the part of The Office which was about Brent's life. If you watched the series then you'll know about his dreams and aspirations to become more than the manager of a paper merchant in Slough.

'The Office' was a 'mockumentary' about the life of the workers in Slough and now we have follow-up documentary about – arguably – the 'star' of the fictional show 'David Brent.' We meet him now after he's long since left Wernom Hogg and is now a – much ridiculed – sales rep who travels up and down the country peddling his less-than-necessary wares. However, he still dreams of becoming the next big thing in music and, rather than go on X-Factor as most people who share his ideals seem to, has sunk all his life savings into promoting his own musical band.

What we see is a depressing take on humanity's desire for fame without the talent to back it up. Gervais has already (majorly!) touched on these subjects in his other TV show 'Extras,' but we witness a man who is more ambition than talent. He won't accept that he'll never have the fame and fortune he craves and, even when it's staring him in the face, he will adjust his perception of reality to suit the situation. What we get out of it is the knowing that he'll never be what he wants and, despite probably not wanting to associate with a man like this, we can't quite bring ourselves to hate him because we know that he'll never achieve or 'win' the fame and adulation he craves.

'David Brent: Life on the Road' is a good little compendium piece to 'The Office.' I guess it is a little stretched and sometimes it feels like there should be one or two jokes more than there is, but, overall, it stands up on its own. Sometimes there are more heart-wrenching moments than laughs, but they add depth to the film and make it a little deeper than a straight-up comedy.

Many people have moaned that there are no other 'Office' characters in it from the British version, but the new characters we meet along the way should – slightly – make up for that. I'm sure we've met one or two of them in offices up and down the country from time to time.

Not as good as The Office, but, then again, what is? Still solid. Maybe a feature length Extras next?

"Life on the Road" is a mockumentary sequel to the classic British version of the TV comedy "The Office" (obviously later remade for the US market and featuring Steve Carrell). Ricky Gervais played the ego-centric David Brent, a monster of a character who exercised what little control he had in his managerial role at a Slough paper company.

Here in "Life on the Road" we join Brent 15 years later where he has taken a rung or two down the career ladder and is working as a sales rep for Lavachem, a sanitary goods manufacturer, also based in Slough.

But Brent still harbors a dream of making it big in the rock world with his middle-of-the-road band called 'Foregone Conclusion (2)'. Gathering around him his ethnic rapper 'friend' Dom Johnson (Doc Brown) and a band of session musicians (who can't stand him), Brent cashes in "several pensions" to fund a tour of the venues of Berkshire... or at least, those that will give stage time over to a "shite band". As the tour delivers predictably diminishing returns, and no record-company interest (at least, not in him) Brent is forced to face his inner demons and some uncomfortable truths.

Bringing TV comedy characters to screen is fraught with difficulty, and few have successfully done it. Even legends like Morecambe and Wise struggled with a series of lacklustre films. Perhaps in recent times Steve Coogan's Alan Partridge has come closest with "Alan Partridge - Alpha Papa" and indeed there are a lot of similarities visible between Partridge and Brent: both have extreme ego issues and self-centredness. But there are significant differences as well, for while Partridge is just an irritatingly loud and obnoxious minor-celebrity Brent - as this film makes much clearer - has real mental illness.

Is this therefore a comedy at all? Well, yes, but in a very black way. There are certainly moments of excellent humor, with the tattooing scene being a high-point. But the result of watching Brent's progressive decline, with his nervous laugh as a constant 'fingernails on chalk board' reminder of his insecurity, results in a level of audience squirming that is palpable. Everything he does is perverse, from describing in excruciating detail every song before singing it, to spending his money on multiple hotel rooms when every gig is within the County of Berkshire.

As a black comedy its important that it doesn't outstay its welcome, and at 96 minutes it doesn't. However, the film lacks the courage of its own dark convictions, and unnecessarily switches tack in the last reel to provide a degree of redemption for Brent. Whilst 'sweet', it is also implausible given what's happened before and I would have suspected the interference of the director in lightening the mood of the writer's original intent. However, as Gervais is both writer and director, there is no such excuse. That's a shame.

So, in summary, an uncomfortable watch that aligns appropriately with the high squirm factor of the original TV show. Prepare to laugh, but feel a bit guilty in doing so.

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I'm a big fan of Ricky Gervais' work and consider The Office to be not just his greatest creation, but also one of the best TV comedies ever made. One of the show's biggest strengths was its brevity and I always lived in fear of a dreaded third series that could potentially tarnish its great reputation. So I was a little dubious to say the least when this new David Brent movie was announced. Fortunately, it was only to be about Brent himself and none of the other characters would be involved, but I still felt this had the potential to be a disaster.

As it turns out, I quite enjoyed Life on The Road. Gervais is very solid as Brent and there are plenty of hilarious moments. Obviously, he is working with a much weaker and less-developed cast so the magic of The Office is simply not there but nor should you expect it to be. Tom Basden and Doc Brown are both pretty good and work well with Gervais, despite some major flaws in the writing.

The major positive about this movie is the soundtrack. There is no two ways about it, Brent's/Gervais' music is actually pretty damn good. And not in an ironic way either; this is genuinely enjoyable pop music, well written with decent vocals. It also contains some of the funniest lyrics you will ever hear.

However, there is one major overriding flaw with this movie and that is the way the other characters respond to Brent. What worked so well in The Office was that Brent was this horribly awkward, clumsy, narcissistic man but he was also completely harmless and tragically needy. The way his colleagues and bosses treated him was with frustration but also a level of sensitivity and understanding. People were rarely nasty to him or outwardly condescending. One of the most touching moments in the whole series was when Tim accepts his offer to go out for a drink, knowing that nobody else really wants to and that his feelings would be hurt. This compassionate handling of Brent was such a huge part of The Office's success because nobody would enjoy watching someone so desperate for approval being consistently mocked and insulted.

Unfortunately, this is exactly what happens in Life on The Road. Brent's new colleagues are generally very unpleasant to him and don't hold anything back. The team of musicians he puts together are completely dismissive of him, refuse to interact with him and are happy to watch him flush his pensions away so they can get paid. It is often quite difficult to watch and just feels really dark and depressing. Fortunately, things improve towards the end and Doc Brown (who he clearly reveres) is always nice to him, but it is still a very uncomfortable experience for much of the movie. I don't know why Gervais chose to introduce this dynamic, but it was certainly a fundamental error.

I'm not sure this movie ever needed to be made but the surprisingly impressive music just about justifies its existence. It's not in the same league as The Office and nor was it likely to be, but it's still reasonably enjoyable with some very funny Brent moments and the best parody soundtrack I have heard to date.

I thoroughly enjoyed this movie, many funny moments.

My wife wasn't as enthusiastic and when i asked her why she said she was cringing because of the awkward moments brought on by Ricky's character...David Brent.

The only thing Ricky Gervais has in common with other British comedians is that they love to laugh at themselves...make a goose of themselves....e.g John Cleese...Apart from that he is definitely one of a kind.

The humour is an extension of his character in "The Office", if you liked this series then you will get the humour and will enjoy this movie.

The plot centre's around David wanting to have a shot at fame and self finances a thrown together band and books a week's worth of venues. Barely anyone turns up and even his own band doesn't like him.

The plot is OK...You can tell that David Brant despite all the 'foot in mouth' moments is a genuine tryer and does garner some sympathy towards the end of the movie. its apparent the humour does disguise an individual seeking acceptance and genuine friends.

I had many good laughs - an easy 8/10 for me...

David Brent: Life on the Road is written & directed by Ricky Gervais and stars Ricky Gervais, Jo Hartley, Ben Bailey Smith and Tom Bennett.

A camera crew catches up with 'The Office' star, David Brent, as he pursues his lifelong dream of becoming a rockstar on the road.

Gervais' comedic genius was firmly planted in toe-curlingly awkward situations back in 2001, with two very successful series and specials of The Office. 'Life on the Road' explores Brent's life after the events of the show, and continues to spawn the incredibly hard-to-watch moments that Brent gets himself into. The scenes in the new office are perfectly written and performed, welcoming us back to the situational comedy that was so brilliantly crafted.

Unfortunately, once we leave the office the film slightly degrades into something more average than superior. However, this doesn't mean there aren't more hilarious scenes to follow, it just seems less consistent. I also thought that as the film moved into its final 15 minutes, it seemed like a bit of Derek had made its way into the character of Brent. That said, the heartfelt scenes were satisfying. It's possible that without Merchant's co-writing the screenplay wasn't as great as it could have been, but wishful thinking is something I like to do without.

A lot of the band performances felt a little repetitive after a while, but they did include some funny moments. The music (also written by Gervais) is catchy and fun, adding a new dynamic that we only briefly heard in the original series.

All of the actors involved are extremely convincing and show great chemistry with Brent. I felt that some of the characters were underused, most notably Nigel (played by Tom Bennett), who was surprisingly delightful.

Overall, it was as I expected it to be and I am fairly pleased with how it turned out. It's not as consistently funny or awkward as I'd hoped, but it has a lot of heart. Gervais seems to implement a lot more emotion into his work now that he has gone solo, which is nice to see. Fans of Gervais will like it. Others, not so much.

Verdict; David Brent: Life on the Road is an above-average follow up to the original series and while it does lack at times, it's a pretty enjoyable experience.

David Brent: Life on the Road, 7/10.