David Brent: Life on the Road (2016) User Reviews

Brilliant music but let down badly by the cruel treatment of Brent

[Ruskington · 6/10 · 14 April 2020]

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.

Not in the same league as the TV Series but there's still plenty for fans to enjoy

[jimbo-53-186511 · 7/10 · 4 September 2016]

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.

A nice return to the life of David Brent.

[taryllsbaker · 6/10 · 20 August 2016]

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.

Cringeworthy for all the wrong reasons.

[davidwmfc · 20 August 2016]

Precursor: Huge fan of the UK Office, the Gervais, Merchant & Pilkington radio shows and Podcasts, and Extras.

Life on the Road is a tread through the same old water that does nothing with the David Brent character except make him more unbelievable. The brilliance and innovation of The Office came from the characters being true to life, and carefully written. Without Stephen Merchant Ricky Gervais is exposed as an awful writer. Like Derek, this suffers from painfully clumsy dialogue, each character having to spell out their feelings as if keeping a diary. The "mockumentary" format is now well and truly a dead horse. Gervais has steered the comedy formula he popularised into a brick wall.

The characters are all regurgitated. There's a new Gareth, a new Finchy, a new Dawn. The pacing of the film is awful and the whole second half is cobbled into one rushed mess of an ending.

The concept isn't so terrible on paper. Brent's band, Forgone Conclusion, are a recognisable characteristic of every backwater British town, the group of ageing, leather jacket clad rock and rollers who can't let go, and want to give it one last push to "make it in the music biz". The problem is this shtick isn't enough to carry the film, and the fuddy duddy rock lyrics are a joke that wears thin. To combat this, Brent inexplicably writes songs like "Be Nice to the Disabled(s)", and the character is uncompromisingly steered into social calamity.

Another problem with Gervais' sledgehammer approach to subtle writing is that the characters intended to come off as "cool" (Doc Brown's rapper character, the label reps) feel incredibly corny, while those intended to come off as corny come across as something far worse.

We have little time to get to know or care about anyone in Brent's new office, these scenes are forgettable and do little other than trying to re-hash the TV series. Fans of the old XFM shows will notice a welcome return of Ho-Lee Fook, the little funny Chinese fella, in one of the funnier scenes in the film. There's not much else to get your teeth into: it's a pointless film. If Gervais and Merchant actually put their heads together and wrote something original, they'd be dangerous. As it is, like Derek, Life's Too Short and Hello Ladies, this is a tired vanity project with no purpose, no insight, and no imagination.

A squirm-athon from beginning to end.

[bob-the-movie-man · 6/10 · 27 August 2016]

"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.

(Please visit http://bob-the-movie-man.com for the graphical version of this review, and to provide feedback).

Depressing, occasionally funny

[Groverdox · 6/10 · 7 January 2017]

"David Brent: Life on the Road" was a gamble. Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant did an admirable thing when they left their classic sitcom "The Office" at only two seasons and a special. It went out on a high, leaving an indelible impression of a great show in the minds of those that watched it. David Brent, the show's gauche main character, experienced a realistic character arc over the show's twelve or so episodes, becoming less a laughing stock than someone painfully human and relatable.

Therein lies the problem with revisiting this character: if he's more aware, he's less funny. Therefore Gervais has rewound the clock with Brent. He doesn't really seem like the same fully fledged character he was in "The Office". He's more just a collection of funny mannerisms, and this time around, they're really not that funny. He constantly finds himself in social situations made awkward by him always putting his foot in it and not knowing when to shut up. When you see him doing this on stage, it is more annoying than anything.

Furthermore, the songs he plays in the movie aren't funny. His repertoire was hilarious in "The Office", where you could buy him as a talented, but totally misguided, songwriter. Here his music is merely bad. The lyrics aren't funny, they're obvious, and the music is monotonous.

"Cringe comedies" like "The Office" tend to function one way: one person behaves in an offensive and embarrassing way, while another person, or a group of people, watches with offence. Neither side is getting the whole story: the first person doesn't know he's being offensive, and the second person(s) doesn't know he is merely stupid, and not truly racist, sexist, homophobic, whatever.

There is a third group that allows this scenario to function, and that is us, the audience. We have the knowledge the other groups lack that differentiates us from the other two, and that allows us to laugh where the others can't.

"The Office" handled this situation brilliantly.

"David Brent: Life on the Road" does not. The problem is I felt myself as more a member of the second group than the third. When Brent is on stage giving one of his cringe inducing monologues, digging himself deeper and deeper into offensiveness, I felt the way his paltry audience members are supposed to have felt. In "The Office", you wanted him to keep it up because it was funny. In "Life on the Road", you empathise too much with the audience members at these gigs who get up and leave. You want to do the same thing.

No one could forget the moment in "The Office" when Brent finally stood up to Chris Finch, showing that he had become less concerned with being "one of the guys". "Life on the Road" is surprisingly devoid of character arc for David Brent. His personality doesn't really change throughout the whole movie, short of him becoming predictably discouraged. The change, curiously, happens in some of the people around him, who like him despite of his faults.

That the movie ends with Brent back where he started, with little evidence of a renewed perspective, makes you wonder how much longer his supporters - both in the movie and those watching at home - will be prepared to stick with him.

Return to form for Ricky Gervais

[Leofwine_draca · 7/10 · 28 February 2017]

I was in two minds about David Brent: Life on the Road when I first heard about it. I absolutely adore THE OFFICE but I fully realise it was made over 15 years ago, when the idea was fresh and novel. Ricky Gervais has subsequently made stuff I wasn't so keen on (EXTRAS and LIFE'S TOO SHORT were watchable but I didn't even bother with DEREK) so I had no idea what to expect from this.

Viewers should note that this is an OFFICE spin-off rather than follow up; the biggest disappointment is that none of the cast of THE OFFICE return aside from Gervais. However, Brent is such a larger-than-life character that it doesn't really matter, and he has an all-new office of characters to support him here. Jo Hartley, of THIS IS ENGLAND fame, brings some surprising warmth to her part of one of his few allies.

Most of the film takes the form of a road trip in which Brent and his band mate buddies go on various gigs around the country, seeking fame and fortune. Gervais is a pretty good singer but he chooses the dumbest lyrics for his songs in order to embarrass his character. And this is a film all about embarrassment and cringe-making scenes, as you'd expect. A lot of the jokes are familiar from THE OFFICE, but somehow it's fun to see Brent back to being the brunt of all the hatred again. Ben Bailey Smith gives the stand-out turn as the rapper that Brent teams up with. I'm not sure about the random Hollywood ending stuff but the rest of the film is a nice reminder of what made Brent such a compelling character in the first place.

70 Miles Per Hour But No More

[andyg_1992 · 7/10 · 19 August 2016]

Being a huge Ricky Gervais fan, particularly because of The Office, part of me couldn't wait for this film, but the other part of me had its reservations. And as was the case with Alan Partridge: Alpha Papa, I feared the TV to film transition might be a bit of an obstacle, and this unfortunately seemed to be the case.

The film starts well with the laughs cumin (ask me how I'm spelling it. C-U-M-I-N) every few seconds, introducing us to his new office and from the get-go, we establish who will play which role in the film - the love interest, the bad guy (if they can be called that), the geeky, lovable friend, and so on. These roles stay consistent, rarely challenging the audiences' expectations, moving forward a predictable narrative throughout the film. That being said, twists and turns weren't necessarily expected and the pay-offs at the end were still warmly welcomed and, as with The Office finale, quite emotional.

Having started strongly, the film slows down quite considerably in the middle third, without a lot of story and/or complications. It really becomes a montage of failures for Brent where he is almost always the butt of every joke. And as the film progresses, Brent goes from typical Brent - arrogant yet embarrassing - to pathetic, to just feeling sorry for him. And at times when we're supposed to be laughing at him, I just felt like I couldn't bring myself to laugh at him anymore. It's at this point that he strays from the character of David Brent in a film which could have easily been renamed Derek: Life on the Road. The film becomes very much an emotionally-driven experience at the expense of humour. The emotional elements of the film in the last 20 or so minutes were strong however, but they just felt a bit too sad for the spin-off of one of the most loved UK comedy characters of all time. It cannot be disputed, however, that we do not see a concluding development of Brent as a person, because to see the more human side to Brent was refreshing.

The cast of the film, unlike The Office, which consisted of largely unknown actors at the time, consists of almost every actor in a UK sitcom in the last 5 years and a handful of comedy panelists. Ricky does act brilliantly in this (although his vocal exhale/laugh combination does start to get a bit annoying after the 50th time of hearing it). Mandeep Dhillon, as the receptionist, was brilliant and did a great job of maintaining the documentary feel and therefore the real emotion of the film and of the character of David Brent towards the end. Doc Brown as Dom was also very good and I'm glad he was so involved after their Comic Relief single 'Equality Street' a few years back. The songs used throughout, as released in an album alongside the film, are so funny yet also brilliant melodically.

It's a must-watch for any David Brent fan, and as much as I'd love to give it more than a 7 (I gave The Office a perfect 10), the title song summarises the experience quite nicely - foot down to the floor, the film only ever gets to 70 miles per hour and no more.

Five-Word Review: Delightfully Excruciating, Funny, Unnecessary Diversion

[BillSims28 · 7/10 · 25 August 2016]

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.

A pointless venture in so many ways.

[barryjames-mc · 4/10 · 28 December 2016]

The Office was genius, it perfectly developed and concluded the character in 2 seasons and the specials. My personal favourite was Extras, a spot on, brilliantly funny and original follow up to The Office. Ever since then it's been down hill, Life's too Short was a boring rehash of using celebrities parodying themselves again, Derek was largely rubbish, and now this.

I sat straight faced throughout the whole thing which made me very sad as I genuinely love Ricky Gervais, but this is pretty awful, maybe as bad as Special Correspondents. Brent is no longer the character he was in The Office, he is a level of sad sack that is too unbelievable to be true, he is too unaware to be true and so it's just not funny at all.

Brent in The Office was believable, he also showed a humanity that made the writing so much better (Merchant and Gervais may work better as a team, although Life's too short is an example where it does't work.) he was someone who had flaws that were observational in the sense that anyone who has worked in an Office may have seen an amalgam of those characteristics in people they worked with. In this movie that has gone, in its place, poor cringe inducing moments that were not in the same class, terrible songs that no self aware human would actually write and sadly, a complete lack of laughs.

Ultimately it's a bit like a kid who said one funny thing, and because everyone laughed kept saying it until no one found it funny anymore. We've seen it all before and it was way funnier then.

Very funny....if you like that sort of humour

[gbrady01 · 8/10 · 26 August 2016]

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...

Very nice

[dzpack · 7/10 · 8 April 2017]

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.

Life Imitating Art

[politic1983 · 4/10 · 22 August 2016]

It's fair to say that 'The Office' was a well-observed mockumentary sit-com about the everyday mundanity of office life. A rare thing in a sit-com that seemed to improve as it went, making strong social comment along with laughs.

But since the success of 'The Office', the Gervais-Merchant writing team have delved into difficult areas; the social comment, and laughs, declining as they went. 'Extras' felt indulgent and 'Life's Too Short' short on a lot of things. Much like Steve Coogan with Alan Partridge before him, Ricky Gervais - after some time away in Hollywood - has now returned to the character that first made his name. However, this time Stephen Merchant isn't anywhere to be found.

As explored in the final Christmas episodes, David Brent is now working in the Berkshire area as a sales rep for a cleaning company. But, self-absorbed as ever, having saved some money, he takes some time off work, hires a backing band and sound engineer and organises a 'tour' of the region, living out his dream of being a musician. But, inevitably, his dream falls short for a second time.

The film, therefore, is a building on one of the famous 'The Office' moments, where Brent 'went home to get' his guitar and tells the story of his former dream during a rather unsuccessful training day. What starts off as an adlibbed piece in a thirty minute episode becomes a feature film. There is a hint of over-indulgence here.

When asked why there were so many songs in 'Bigger, Longer and Uncut', Trey Parker and Matt Stone replied that they 'wanted to be rock stars.' Gervais himself is a former musician, in a band that never quite made it. 'David Brent: Life on the Road', therefore, is a vehicle for Gervais to have his music heard on a wider scale. While these are songs designed to be comical, they are passable as songs written by someone who knows his stuff, rather than coming across as too amateurish. But with so much screen time dedicated to live performances, the songs are neither good, nor funny, enough to justify the focus.

No doubt one of the funniest elements of 'The Office' was Brent's awkwardness when faced with sensitive subjects, such as race, disability and sexuality. A lot of the songs featured are along similar lines (literally), with awkward lyrics bordering on the offensive. While no offence is intended, the fact that it has become such an important part of his comedy over the years shows perhaps the frequent post-irony at play has left Gervais confused as to his own thoughts on the subjects. Moments become awkward, but for the wrong reasons.

There are laughs here: some office bants still feature; and some of the songs do hit the funny bone on occasion. But one thing that's missing here is the others: Gareth, Tim and Dawn were all important parts of 'The Office' structure, and Brent's playing off them is what made it so strong. Here though, they are not present, and his interactions with the band - with the exception of Doc Brown's Dom - are kept on stage, lacking the natural flow of the series.

But, more importantly, it may be the absence of Merchant that is most noticeable. Gervais needed the second writer to reign the Brent within and stop this feeling like life imitating art.

As Richard Herring would say: 'They should have put Tim from 'The Office' in it.'

Funny but there's too much Gervais and no Stephen Merchant

[Rickting · 6/10 · 1 August 2017]

13 years after the end of the beloved sitcom, The Office, David Brent is still stuck in an office, but a documentary crew is filming him again and he decides to go on tour with a band in a last-ditch attempt to live his dreams of being a rock-star. Like most films connected to TV shows, this is annoying since it doesn't connect to the show enough, with Gareth, Tim and Dawn disappointingly absent. Ricky Gervais was never the most impressive actor in The Office, but he gives a good (If often irritating) tragicomic performance here. This film serves as an interesting exploration of the character and has many good laughs and touching character moments along the way; it humanizes David Brent, though don't worry it also embarrasses him and every opportunity. The trouble is, there's a line between comedy and sadism and after a funny first half, the film just gets extremely uncomfortable and stops being enjoyable. The Office was quite depressing. Extras was incredibly depressing. But this- wow. Be warned: you will cringe. A lot. The original show had enough realism and honesty to pull off the cringe, as it felt so truthful but here the uncomfortable stuff goes too far. I can tell Stephen Merchant was the one who added the nuance that made the sitcom so good. With Gervais on his own, there's no-one to stop him from taking the cringe comedy too far. Even so, while he's clearly not as good as he was, there's no denying that this is a funny and often enjoyable road movie with some nice bits of drama.

6/10

Pretty good for a TV series spin-off movie but a definite step down

[Red-Barracuda · 7/10 · 20 August 2016]

Movie spin-offs to beloved British sitcoms have been released frequently over the years and the results have, on the whole, been atrocious. The mistake that the writers make time and again is to make the movie version 'bigger' or, specifically, more 'cinematic'. To achieve this they transplant the TV characters into situations they are not normally situated in. Pretty ironic and misguided for a sitcom movie if you ask me! A recent example was Alan Partridge: Alpha Papa (2013) where the central character was removed from his mundane existence (which made the character hilarious) and transported him into a high-profile hostage situation (which didn't feel true and made him somewhat less hilarious). The Partridge movie is the closest equivalent to this David Brent film in that both characters, while having a lot of similarities, were also two of the finest comic creations to grace TV over the last twenty years. It has to be said that with the Brent movie we have that rare beast, a film whose plot-line actually feels true to the TV character. In it Brent has managed to get another film crew to follow him as he tries to break into the music business with his band Foregone Conclusion; in doing so he goes on a UK tour of the Slough area.

It's good that creator and star Ricky Gervais has managed to concoct a plot-line for a movie spin-off that feels genuinely connected to the series 'The Office' in terms of content. I guess a problem inherent in this is that 'The Office' was easily one of the finest TV comedies ever made and the Brent character was played to perfection by Gervais. The film just can't help but pale in comparison. It's not bad, in fact it's a pretty good comedy, but when the bar has been set so high its deficiencies do stand out more. The story-line invites us to witness and hear Brent's song craft and this is surprisingly one of the highlights of the movie. Comedy songs are usually completely trite in that they always feel so forced, yet the songs here do sound like the kinds of things Brent could conceivably have written. They are just professional enough to be believable which is important; yet the lyrics are often hilarious – his ode to life on the road has the moderately hard-living Brent putting his 'foot down to the floor, at 70 miles per hour but no more', his heartfelt celebration of the Native American describes them as 'soaring like an eagle, sitting like a pelican' and as for his good intentioned song about the handicapped, well, that has to be seen to be understood.

The comedy otherwise is a bit hit and miss, there are a few funny Brent moments but unlike 'The Office' he is the only one with any funny lines here and he could maybe have done with some support. Most characters just tolerate him in a similar disdainful way. For this reason the ending does come across unrealistically schmaltzy. Gervais finished off both 'The Office' and 'Extras' on upbeat endings which partially worked so well because they were kind of unexpected given what had gone before but it seems to be a formula now and so here once again we watch a character squirm their way through the film only for things to end on a happy note. Only here if feels tacked on, after all even his band-mates required to be paid £25 pounds an hour to even socialise with him a few days previously yet by the end think he is a good guy and the relentlessly humiliating tour experience was now considered to have been good fun; while there is a poorly executed final scene in his office where everything works out great, including the 'bad guy' getting a glass of water in the face. So the movie ends in quite a naff fashion if I am being totally honest. But, on the whole, there are actual laughs here which is more than you can say for most comedy films and Gervais is still pretty good as Brent. It's certainly a pretty good attempt at a TV movie spin-off even if it pales against the series that it evolved from.

The Brentmeister Generalisimo returns....please.

[El-Kapitoshka · 7/10 · 15 December 2016]

I remember coming home from school and staying up for 10pm to watch an episode of the office on BBB2. I remember laughing alongside my father, pretending I 'got it'. But it was a ruse, given verbal ques from the laughter of the old man. It's safe to say I didn't get it. Most likely because I'd never had a proper job by then (I worked every Sunday as a boy on the market stalls selling Phillips Savvy (Yes I feel old) phone fascias. Anyway - I digress. The point being that I didn't get it, but I fell in love with Brent from a young age, grew up with him around.

When I re watched it aged 18 and then having actually had proper jobs, it was like a revelation. Hilarious and tragic - I got it. So after watching absolutely anything that had Brent in it, I was happy to see he would be making a return. I always felt like I would be good mates with Brent in real life because he encompasses everything that makes us human.

The film is good. It's clear to see the world has moved on while Brent has stayed still - but this is reflected in even how we see the overall humour of this film. It's nothing revolutionary as far as Brent is concerned, it's familiar and more like meeting up with an old mate who you have known for years.

I think that overall the film could of been much longer too - I hope the DVD deleted scenes shed a light on the ending a bit more and allow us t see the band get back on track as it does feel rushed in the movie to cram it all in.

As much as I love Brent though, I can't almost help wish that I could go back to not 'getting it' again like in my youth - just so I could have the pleasure of discovering the Offices series again for the first time and tying the not off with this film.

Nice comedy

[iampavan · 6/10 · 9 September 2016]

I am really happy to see him again as David Brent, David Brent is a amazing character sometime when a TV show moving to a movie that has a different place because we already know everything about this TV serial and when we get a chance to watch it as a movie it create more fun and get amazing response.I laugh from start to end and I would watch it again and again many laugh out loud moment come. Whole characters perform very nice everybody done good job. when I fell unhappy maximum time I watch this movie. This is best way to laugh peoples are not making this types of movie now days but we have to watch rest movies. No body can stop laugh during watch this movie. I want to see it hit on the screen and it was worth the wait very funny

The 'Brentmeister' rides again

[bowmanblue · 8/10 · 17 February 2017]

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?

David Brent: Life on the Road

[tr91 · 6/10 · 13 December 2016]

It's very rare that a sitcom transforms successfully in to a feature length film but nonetheless, as a a huge fan of The Office, I was looking forward to checking this one out.

The first 20 minutes or so were excellent and felt like one of the original episodes, it was a laugh a minute. Although I was a bit disappointed not to see any of the other original characters, some of the new characters had their moments, in particular the two guys from PhoneShop.

Once the film starts to move on to the road part, it really starts to drag. The road characters were mostly uninteresting, the songs were not funny and in general the laughs were pretty rare & very repetitive.

Gervais transformed back in to Brent seamlessly but overall there just wasn't enough material to warrant a feature length film. I give it a 6/10 overall and in future I will stick to re-watching the original episodes.

Ricky Gervais lets sentimentality get the better of him - again

[whynotgoglobal · 4/10 · 30 November 2016]

There are good jokes and good moments here, but like so much of Gervais's work it's compromised by sentimentality and crushed by his determination to tell the audience exactly how they should feel about what they're watching. The irony here is that Gervais makes exactly the same mistake as his protagonist. We're invited to laugh at Brent explaining his song lyrics in excruciating detail but then offered the same clumsy preaching in the character's paint-by-numbers redemption in the final ten minutes. When Tim and Dawn finally got together in The Office's closing moments we believed it and we cheered for it because the writing and acting had earned that response. Thirteen years on Gervais no longer respects his audience enough for such trivia as character development. He offers us constant buffoonery and tells us to laugh at it for almost an hour and a half but then cheer for it right at the end for no reason other than that he wants to give his alter ego a happy ending. Next time out I sincerely hope he collaborates with another writer, director or producer with the authority to remind him of the basics of storytelling.

bitter sweet entertainment

[krings-510-884553 · 10/10 · 9 March 2022]

In The Office David Brent was a laughing stock. Now, 13 years later we see a failed man in late middle age who still follows his dreams of being a pop star. Of course, his attempts at a world tour in Berkshire is very funny. He is as inadept with people as ever and his attempts at songwriting are hilarious. That is almost a tragedy because he isn't even really bad. However, in this film Brent really is more of a tragic figure who looks back at his lifw which was a complete failure. Although funny, this film is bitter sweet entertainment.

Cringe, cringiest, cringeworthy...so not a bad big-screen version of The Office.

[cinesocialuk · 7/10 · 25 August 2016]

My reservations about this film (and Gervais, as I'm not a fan) proved unfounded, for Life On the Road proves to be a bang-on continuation of the themes, humour, style, carefully constructed scripts and wince-inducing dialogue and pratfalls of its TV forbear.

'Cringe-worthy' is a phrase that could have been invented to describe The Office and Gervais' own brand of humour. Prepare to cringe big time in this film folks as no target or minority group is left untouched.

Gervais does, however, in a rare show or mercy and charity, gift Brent a happy ending he would never have received on TV. Gervais must be turning into an old softie, that Hollywood tinsel rubbing off on this movie.

You feel bad for Brent

[thomasgreuel · 3/10 · 14 February 2017]

The original office is one of the best comedies on TV. David Brent was essentially a good person, striving to do (mostly) good things and caring for his employees, but because of his lack of social skills became cringe worthy and other did the wrong thing. He was the boss and his employees had to play along with him, but to an extent they also tolerated him. Tim, Gareth and Dawn didn't hate him generally. That way the audience was able to laugh about him without feeling bad.

In the 2nd season he lost his job, his co-workers and everything he had. Laughing about him became unpleasant because Brent realised that he essentially was a loser.

Still the Christmas special turned things around, picked him up, hinted at him changing for the better and that happy end for Dawn and Tim was the most touching love story that I remember on TV.

The movie unfortunately undoes all the good. Brent gets kicked in the groin relentlessly to a point that it becomes painful to watch. I was reminded of Melancholia (yes, it was that bad!). For example, he pays a band to tour with him. They all resent him and he even has to pay them extra so that they have a drink with him. When they do they all check their iPhones.

Brent even contemplates suicide and shows him in therapy. It's not funny to laugh about someone who is humiliated to that degree. Ironically there is even a song about not making fun of "the disabled". If Gervais had only listened.

The film focuses entirely on Brent. There are no other characters, no alternate story lines, there is no character development or story arc. The film just drags along showing Brent being eviscerated on camera.

The two people who like him are marginal and remain quiet only to come forward at the end to provide a lazy relief.

It is a sad film that made me actually depressed. Please, Ricky, no more David Brent!

Everything I expected

[giftedapollo · 6/10 · 2 September 2016]

I love Ricky Gervais. LOVE the Office, the podcasts, Extras, the stand up shows. Brilliant. Couldn't watch past Episode 3 of Life's too short or through a whole episode of Derek. Something very obvious when Merchant isn't involved.

I was fearful of this film, I wanted it to be good. I had watched all of the Learn Guitar with David Brent videos on Youtube and even saw the Foregone Conclusion live show at Hammersmith, so I knew a lot of the songs. The songs are well crafted and funny, so it's a perfect formula right?

I feel Gervais tried too hard to go back to the Brent character, it's too tragic, too painful, too much.

He says in all the interviews that it would be odd to have the same characters as in the office, still there after 20 years. But then he DOES have an office and the same characters are there, Finchy, Gareth, Dawn, the love interest (or versions of them)

Don't get me wrong, I did laugh in this film, and it is rewarding, at the end to see the band end up thinking he is 'alright, actually' but it's so contrived. The end to the film feels very rushed. He packs all the classic Gervais things in, the slightly crying heartfelt interview (which he pulled off to perfection in the Extras Christmas special, when he was in Big Brother) but since then he seems to be trying to do that in everything he does.

The film settles into a rhythm once they hit the road, they do a gig in a different location and you see one of the many funny songs performed. There was a scene where he 'picked up' two women after a gig, but he asked them back to his hotel room at a cash point, it all felt over the top desperate, why couldn't he have just me them in the club and then ended up at his hotel room, the jokes that followed would still have worked.

Gervais wanted you to feel sorry for Brent, and he really hammered home this message, this worked in The Office because it was a lot more subtle and over 2 series, in a film, it was very hap-hazard and rushed.

As the title says, this film is everything I expected, unfortunately I didn't expect much after seeing the trailer.

This film COULD have been good!

Brent more fun in an office

[SnoopyStyle · 6/10 · 12 February 2017]

David Brent (Ricky Gervais) gained a little notoriety from the BBC2 documentary The Office. The film crew has caught up with him once again. He now aspires to be a singer-songwriter in between doing sales calls. His band is called Foregone Conclusion. He is now working at Lavichem selling toilet products. He continues to be the same clueless self-obsessed idiot as before. He signed half-black rapper Dom Johnson and starts writing for him. He decides to spend all his money to go on tour with his music.

Brent in an office continues to be good comedy. When he's on his concert tour, the comedy becomes flatter and more one dimensional. Everybody is smarter than him and sees the idiocy of his songs. Some of the songs are actually good in its fun stupidity. This is for those who love the original Office but also those who like Gervais' brand of comedy.