David Brent: a Vida na Estrada

I liked this comedy and i find it sad that many people are bashing it. It has many funny moments throughout and it is also giving a message at the same time. Probably those who didn't like it were comparing it to the Office and there are similarities of course but this is different it is a movie and it is a romantic comedy actually. I do recommend it especially for people who like Ricky and his style it's all there all what you need to get the best of him. Even the songs are nice and catchy.

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?

Filmed in the same style as the TV Series this is a fly-on-the-wall documentary about everyone's favourite cringe-inducing boss David Brent as he attempts to hit the big time as a rock star with his band Foregone Conclusion.

The Office was like a breath of fresh air when it first arrived back in 2001 and it is a TV Series that I adore and can watch over and over again - I believe this was one of the first comedy series that brought about what can only be described as 'cringe-humour'. Life On The Road is presumably intended as a swan song for the character of David Brent and predictably the film as a whole falls short of the TV Series, but does still produce plenty of laughs....

In essence taking Brent out of the office and having him go on tour basically gives him the opportunity to showcase his delusions and social awkwardness to a much larger group of people. This does provide plenty of laughs and there are many scenes that do provide us with some classic Brent cringe moments. Whilst there are lots of funny scenes and lots of jokes that do work there are occasions when the comedy feels a bit forced (the joke about the Chinese was a bit awkward) and the continual jokes about Doc Brown being black are overused and start to wear thin - although many of the jokes are quite funny.

The film is generally funny when Brent is out on tour with his band, but sadly the same can't really be said for the scenes within the office; in fairness it was always going to be difficult to substitute the likes of Dawn, Gareth and Tim, but something just didn't feel right with many of Brent's co-workers. In the TV Series pretty much everyone in the Office disliked Brent, but you never felt that they held any kind of deep felt hatred or resentment towards him I personally just felt that a lot of his colleagues were sort of indifferent towards him. In Life on the road, his co-workers either really hate him (which sometimes gives the film a rather nasty tone) or they really like him (which sort of negates everything that his character is about). Having one of the characters being as cringe-inducing as Brent himself was a misstep in my book as part of what made Brent funny in the Office is that he thought he was funny, but no-one else did. I found Brent's behaviour in the Office 'funny-awkward' whereas his scenes with his workers in this film were more 'awkward-awkward'.

Inevitably trying to make a character who we're used to seeing in 30 minute segments and making him funny for 90 minutes is a tall order and it shows here; there were gaps in the film where I wasn't laughing whereas in the TV Series I was nearly always laughing. This result in a film that is mostly funny rather than being consistently funny.

Gervais wrote, directed and starred in this film so I suppose it's to be expected that he is front and centre in the picture, but he does make the film feel like a one-man show far too often; he doesn't really allow many of the characters much room to develop and I also felt it was a pity that poor Doc Brown was reduced to little more than being a barrage of jokes about his race and a straight man to Brent's character (though the film does allow Brown to showcase his talents - he's actually a decent rapper).

The film does get a little sappy at the end and some of the character shifts towards the end are also a little questionable, but in the main there are enough amusing moments to keep fans of the TV Series happy. Yes it's a flawed film, but it's a pretty funny one too.

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.

Continuing his unique brand of horribly awkward humour that made The Office such a success (with remakes in the USA, France, Germany, Canada, Chile, Sweden, and Israel), Ricky Gervais resurrects the phenomenon that is David Brent, idiosyncrasies and all. Following on from the Christmas specials, the hapless eponymous character is still a sales rep for a cleaning supplies company, yet still harbours dreams of going on tour with his band, a resurrected Foregone Conclusion.

This film feels a little unnecessary, but that certainly doesn't detract from its enjoyment levels. After the perfect ending given to us by the Christmas specials back in 2003, the character was at peace and it felt like he had achieved some sort of catharsis. Nonetheless, this is premium Gervais - it probably helps that I binge watched all of The Office in the week before watching this, so was in a real Office-y mood. The humour is on point, from Brent's tics (the perfectly judged nervous laugh, the shifty grins to the camera) to his own form of inadvertently offending people. There's a good amount of pathos, too, with Brent really sinking to new lows over the course of the film. The plot is well-suited to the character, and another highlight is the songs - the standout being 'Please Don't Make Fun of the Disabled' - which are just hilarious when delivered by Gervais.

Ultimately, though, it won't stick in the memory for long and it didn't need to be made - nor are the side characters as compelling as the likes of Tim Canterbury, Gareth Keenan, Dawn Tinsley, and Keith Bishop. It also feels a little sweetened and watered down at times, especially towards the end. It feels a little too perfect and not bittersweet enough. Still, an enjoyable 90 minute diversion for any Office fan, and good fun. 66/100.