Facebook Twitter Instagram
    Latest
    • 3627. I Believe In Miracles (2015)
    • 3626. The Man With One Red Shoe (1985)
    • 3625. Ode To Joy (2019)
    • 3624. One Chance (2013)
    • 3623. Falling For Figaro (2020)
    • 3622. The Polka King (2017)
    • 3621. Spies In Disguise (2019)
    • 3620. Friendzone (2021)
    The Mad Movie Man
    • Home
    • Blog
      • All Posts
      • Best Of The Year
        • Best Of 2015
        • Best Of 2016
        • Best Of 2017
        • Best Of 2018
        • Best Of 2019
        • Best Of 2020
        • Best Of 2021
        • Best Of 2022
      • The Decade In Review
      • Box Office Analysis
      • James Bond
      • Oscars
      • RANKED
      • Star Wars
      • The Big Questions
      • Top 10
      • World Cinema
    • Ratings
      • Top 250
      • Top 100 Foreign Films
      • Bottom 50
      • 0 – 1.9
      • 2 – 3.9
      • 4 – 5.9
      • 6 – 7.9
      • 8 – 10
    • Genres
      • Action
      • Anthology
      • Animation
      • Christmas
      • Comedy
      • Crime
      • Documentary
      • Drama
      • Fantasy
      • Film-Noir
      • History
      • Horror
      • Kids’
      • Musical
      • Psychological
      • Romance
      • Sci-Fi
      • Short
      • Silent
      • Sport
      • Superhero
      • Survival
      • Thriller
      • Western
    • Release Year
      • 2020s
      • 2010s
      • 2000s
      • 1990s
      • 1980s
      • 1970s
      • 1960s
      • 1950s
      • 1940s
      • 1930s
      • 1920s
    • Country
      • Afghanistan
      • Argentina
      • Australia
      • Austria
      • Belgium
      • Brazil
      • Cambodia
      • Canada
      • Chile
      • China
      • Colombia
      • Costa Rica
      • Czechoslovakia
      • Czech Republic
      • Denmark
      • East Timor
      • Faroe Islands
      • Finland
      • France
      • Germany
      • Georgia
      • Greece
      • Hong Kong
      • Hungary
      • Iceland
      • India
      • Indonesia
      • Iran
      • Iraq
      • Ireland
      • Israel
      • Italy
      • Japan
      • Latvia
      • Lebanon
      • Laos
      • Malaysia
      • Mexico
      • New Zealand
      • Nigeria
      • North Korea
      • Norway
      • Paraguay
      • Peru
      • Philippines
      • Poland
      • Romania
      • Russia
      • Saudi Arabia
      • Singapore
      • South Korea
      • South Africa
      • Soviet Union
      • Spain
      • Sweden
      • Switzerland
      • Syria
      • Taiwan
      • Thailand
      • Turkey
      • Uganda
      • United Kingdom
      • United States
      • Uruguay
      • Vietnam
      • Zambia
    • About
    The Mad Movie Man
    You are at:Home»Review»1701. David Brent: Life On The Road (2016)

    1701. David Brent: Life On The Road (2016)

    0
    By The Mad Movie Man on March 23, 2017 2016, 6 - 7.9, 90-99 mins, Comedy, Mar 17, Movies Of 2017, Review, United Kingdom
    6.7 Infuriating
    • Acting 6.9
    • Directing 6.8
    • Story 6.4
    • User Ratings (0 Votes) 0

    Starring: Ricky Gervais, Doc Brown, Tom Basden

    Director: Ricky Gervais

    Running Time: 96 mins


    David Brent: Life On The Road is a British film following former regional manager of Wernham Hogg, David Brent, a decade and a half after his appearance on the documentary The Office, now chasing his dream of becoming a rock star as he tours the Berkshire area with a crew of unhappy bandmates.

    This film is meant to be painful. David Brent is a brilliantly disgusting piece of work that’s designed to make you cringe all day long and wish failure onto him. In The Office, that character works fantastically, but in Life On The Road, it doesn’t. Whilst Brent is just as excruciating to watch as always, he’s far more irritating than funny, due to this film’s screenplay, directing and running time.

    In fact, the running time is probably the film’s biggest problem. 96 minutes isn’t long by cinema standards, but when it comes to watching a TV character who you can barely withstand for half an hour, it feels like a marathon.

    In The Office, Brent is awful to watch throughout each episode, but it’s a hilarious and thrilling challenge to watch him in the most painfully awkward and cringeworthy scenarios imaginable, and try to stand it for 30 minutes. What’s more is that he never occupied all of the screen time on the show, which lots of attention being given to the main side characters, Tim, Dawn and Gareth.

    Life On The Road, however, is effectively an hour and a half of Brent, and only Brent. And that’s just a bit too much for anyone to handle.

    Although Ricky Gervais does a decent job at reviving the character, and making him as hilariously irritating as possible, it’s a simple issue of taking a man that we loved to hate, and turning him into a purely annoying presence that doesn’t have a shade of the comic brilliance he had back in the TV show.

    The screenplay here is also a big issue. Whilst there are more than a few very good laughs, they feel so few and far between given that every second is meant to be a big joke. Brent’s persona is a running gag, whilst the frustration of his bandmates is meant to make you laugh too, but it just doesn’t come off this way, and you spend more time watching a relatively dull film that just doesn’t have a great sense of humour.

    What’s more is that the story revolves around Brent getting close to achieving his dream. I may be the only one, but part of the beauty of The Office show was that Brent didn’t succeed, and got everything he deserved for being an absolute pain in the neck. Life On The Road is a far more light-hearted film, and although that may be deliberate, it’s the wrong decision for such a deliberately loathsome character, who you want to see fail and fall further into painfully awkward depression than anything else.

    Overall, I was disappointed by David Brent: Life On The Road. It’s impossible to match up to the brilliance of The Office TV show, but as far as a revival of such a legendary character goes, this is a disappointment. With a misjudged atmosphere and story that doesn’t fit the character, and too much emphasis on someone that’s absolutely unbearable, Life On The Road is an irritating film, but it’s not funny enough to make that work, and that’s why I’m giving it a 6.7.

    Share. Facebook Twitter Pinterest LinkedIn Tumblr Email
    The Mad Movie Man
    • Website
    • Facebook
    • Twitter

    The Mad Movie Man, AKA Anthony Cullen, writes articles and reviews about movies and the world of cinema. Since January 1st, 2013, he has watched and reviewed a movie every day. This is the blog dedicated to the project: www.madmovieman.com

    Related Posts

    7.1

    3627. I Believe In Miracles (2015)

    5.8

    3626. The Man With One Red Shoe (1985)

    7.9

    3625. Ode To Joy (2019)

    Follow Me Online!
    • Facebook
    • Twitter
    • YouTube
    • Tumblr
    New Releases
    5.3
    January 17, 2022

    3620. Friendzone (2021)

    7.1
    January 10, 2022

    3612. The Lost Daughter (2021)

    8.0
    January 7, 2022

    3609. Licorice Pizza (2021)

    7.2
    January 7, 2022

    3608. Lamb (2021)

    7.4
    December 30, 2021

    3599. The King’s Man (2021)

    6.3
    December 29, 2021

    3598. The Matrix Resurrections (2021)

    8.4
    December 28, 2021

    3597. West Side Story (2021)

    6.3
    December 27, 2021

    3596. Gunpowder Milkshake (2021)

    Recommended Movies
    8.5
    Review
    October 4, 20200

    3110. Eternal Beauty (2020)

    8.3
    Review
    February 21, 20150

    865. Rebecca (1940)

    8.1
    Review
    May 14, 20200

    2955. Before Midnight (2013)

    8.3
    Review
    February 8, 20190

    2450. The Lego Movie 2 (2019)

    8.1
    Review
    October 26, 20180

    2326. The Hate U Give (2018)

    Popular Posts
    7.1
    January 24, 2022

    3627. I Believe In Miracles (2015)

    5.8
    January 23, 2022

    3626. The Man With One Red Shoe (1985)

    7.9
    January 22, 2022

    3625. Ode To Joy (2019)

    7.4
    January 21, 2022

    3624. One Chance (2013)

    6.3
    January 20, 2022

    3623. Falling For Figaro (2020)

    7.5
    January 19, 2022

    3622. The Polka King (2017)

    6.0
    January 18, 2022

    3621. Spies In Disguise (2019)

    © 2022 ThemeSphere. Designed by ThemeSphere.

    Type above and press Enter to search. Press Esc to cancel.