An everyday guy who aims big and means well, but doesn’t always endear those around him with his awkward antics, once again tries to chase his dreams. That’s the narrative that David Brent: Life on the Road presents; however it’s as true for its eponymous character as it is for its creator, star performer, writer, director and producer. Returning to the buffoonish role that still proves his best-known comic creation, Ricky Gervais (Special Correspondents) endeavours to recapture his own glory days as well. And though the comedian obviously knows this — indeed, the film is much more self-aware than its central fictional figure — it doesn’t make the end result any easier to watch, or even funny.
It has been 13 years since Brent last graced the small screen in the original British version of workplace comedy The Office. Viewers of the series’ 2003 Christmas specials will know that his middle management days at paper merchant Wernham-Hogg are well and truly behind him; when the two episodes wrapped up the show, selling cleaning products and attempting to parlay his TV fame into rock stardom was his new reality. The fact that little has changed in more than a decade offers an indication of where Brent’s life hasn’t gone since. Still, he keeps trying: to make his mostly unimpressed colleagues laugh, and to take his band on the road in the hopes of securing a record contract, mostly.
There’s an intentional sadness to Brent’s efforts as he’s openly bullied by an aggressive fellow salesman (Andrew Brooke, Babylon) yet remains oblivious to the affections of one kindly workmate (Jo Hartley, Eddie the Eagle), and as he pretends to manage an up-and-coming rapper (Ben Bailey Smith, Brief Encounters) while cashing in his pension to pay other musicians (including We are Scientists’ drummer Andy Burrows, as well as The Wrong Mans‘ actor Tom Basden as the group’s sound engineer) to be involved in his own singing exploits. Aiming to add depth to his grating protagonist, Gervais doesn’t miss an opportunity to stress the misery behind Brent’s egotistical bravado and ongoing self-induced humiliations, note that the world surrounding the figure’s reappearance is much less forgiving this time around, or pre-empt criticisms by having others deem him “painful”, “excruciating” and “dreadful” repeatedly.
Alas, he also doesn’t do much more than rehash, exaggerate and extend the cringe-provoking aspects that made the fly-on-the-wall-style television program such a hit. A selection of purposefully inappropriate songs help pad out the running time, as do increasingly lengthy scenes in dire need of a trim. Gervais clearly hopes that a combination of nostalgia, discomfort and knowing gags will cultivate the intended pathos-heavy chuckles, but apart from a cameo appearance moments before the movie’s end, nothing in David Brent: Life on the Road hits the mark. And while many big-screen spin-offs of decades-old TV shows have highlighted the sorrowful side of beloved fictional personalities blindly continuing on, questioned the relevance of new chapters in their tales and drawn parallels to contemporary circumstances, the cleverly amusing Alan Partridge: Alpha Papa or even simply fond Absolutely Fabulous: The Movie, this indulgent, déjà vu-heavy effort isn’t.
Gervais’ prominence, both in front of and behind the mockumentary camera, has much to do with David Brent: Life on the Road‘s struggles. Much of the reason that The Office worked so well is that, though Brent may have been the series’ protagonist, he wasn’t its sole point of interest. Even when the film is lazily trying to mimic old dynamics via a goofy sidekick (Tom Bennett, Love & Friendship) or mostly obliging receptionist (Mandeep Dhillon, Nina Forever), it never benefits from a substantive ensemble, or any substance beyond wheeling out its lead character’s greatest hits. Off screen, Gervais sorely misses the balance his television writing and directing collaborator Stephen Merchant offered; in this bloated, tired resurrection, too much of Brent and Gervais doing what they do best — or worst — is never a good thing.
Rating: 1 ½ stars out of 5
David Brent: Life on the Road
Director: Ricky Gervais
UK, 2016, 96 mins
Release date: August 25
Distributor: eOne
Rated: MA
Actors:
Director:
Format:
Country:
Release:
