David Brent: Life on the Road
Review by Paul Preston
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Feb. 24, 2017 – David Brent: Life on the Road
The Office’s biggest tool is back! David Brent has left the uncomfortable confines of Wernham-Hogg and is now on the road to achieve the dream of being a rock star. He brings with him his signature gift of taking a joke awkwardly too far, offending someone without knowing it and failing to save face when he realizes it.
Life on the Road begins with Brent back in another office, this time one that sells cleaning and feminine hygiene products (not the same product). Some of the films’ biggest laughs are here as he can’t seem to talk to the females in the office without upsetting them, he’s accosted by an office bully (haven’t really seen one of those in Brent’s world yet) and he cracks jokes under the closely-watching eye of a co-worker who seems to be his biggest fan.
But soon Brent hits the road with his band, Foregone Conclusion on a self-funded tour. Things go south quickly – the gigs are horrible, crowds don’t show up and his band hates him. The problem I had was that the laughs also trail off. Director/writer/star Ricky Gervais has never shied away from exploring the depths of pain and failure, but the pile-on of disappointments and disasters on the road quickly becomes repetitive. Brent’s band hates him so much, and spends so much of the film talking in testimonials about how much they don’t enjoy being a part of Foregone Conclusion that you can’t help but feel somewhat bad for Brent, but I also couldn’t help but wonder why I would invest any time in this guy, if he’s such a loser. The uncomfortable situations yielding only pity, not so much laughs, didn’t have the payoff of some of The Office’s finer moments.
Gervais ended his TV series Extras in dynamite fashion with an extended episode that rails against reality TV and packed an emotional punch between the two lead characters. And Gervais’ Derek provided moving moments each episode, displayed in the simplicity of an act of kindness. By the end of Life on the Road, Gervais finds that affecting moment again to wrap up the story, as the interplay between two of the characters spells out hope for Brent. Too bad the middle, the actual life-on-the-road part, is such a dour slog.
Directed by: Ricky Gervais
Release Date: February 10, 2017
Run Time: 96 Minutes
Country: UK/USA
Distributor: BBC Films
