Review #1,134: 'David Brent: Life on the Road' (2016)

13 years after Ricky Gervais' iconic comic creation David Brent bowed out in hilarious style with The Office Christmas special, the now-former manager of Slough's Wernham-Hogg paper merchants returns for one last swansong. Nearly cancelled during its second season due to low ratings, The Office has gone on to be one of Britain's biggest comedy exports, claiming award after award and making stars of writers Gervais and Stephen Merchant. It is one of those rare examples of a series ending precisely when it should and not being dragged out as long as its popularity remained, and this is a belief shared by most of its devout fans.

So, fans were naturally worried when Gervais announced that he would re-visit the "extraordinary, ordinary man" he claimed he had retired for a feature-length movie. With any sitcom-turned-movie, there is the concern that making the leap from a successful 30-minute format to a 90 minute movie that people would be willing to pay to see just won't work. The trend of sending its characters off for a holiday in the hope of generating enough laughs so the audience won't notice the lack of originality rarely pays off, but Gervais, working here without Merchant, makes an effort to dodge cliches and does a decent job in exploring other areas of his goateed alter-ego. Ultimately however, Life on the Road doesn't have the energy or ideas to sustain its running time.

For long periods of the first half, there are enough laughs to keep things ticking over. Brent is now working as a travelling salesman for bathroom supply company Lavichem, but realising he isn't getting any younger, he decides to make one last stab at fame with his band Foregone Conclusion and go on tour. By moving the action from the office to the open road, Gervais has offered Brent the opportunity to offend and embarrass a whole new set of people. His band mates can't stand him, the sound engineer only agrees to tag along when Brent regrettably promises to pay double his normal wage, and his rapper 'protege' Dom (Ben Bailey Smith - normally known by his stage name Doc Brown) hopes to make it on his own. It's soon clear why - songs such as 'Native American' and 'Please Don't Make Fun of the Disableds' leave the audience horrified.

Gervais steps back into the drab suits and trademark goatee with ease, ensuring that the to-camera mugging, nervous chuckle and overbite are all present and correct. He even manages to inspire sympathy for a man who manages to even drop a drunken N-bomb, as we learn of his previous battle with depression and anxiety over loses his treasured job at Wernham-Hogg. But there are long stretches where the film doesn't generate any laughs, and memories of the innovative, landmark comedy series make it seem like watching a once-great sportsman slowly deteriorate with age when they should have retired long ago. The Office already had its perfect ending, so it begs the question as to why Gervais felt the need to don the Brent mask once again. While it hardly tarnishes the legacy, Life on the Road feels like a pointless last hurrah that nobody was asking for.


Directed by: Ricky Gervais
Starring: Ricky Gervais, Ben Bailey Smith, Jo Hartley, Tom Bennett
Country: UK/USA

Rating: **

Tom Gillespie