The Hot Spot Rating
David Brent: Life on the Road (2016)
Cast: Ricky Gervais, Jo Hart, Mandeep Dillon
Director: Ricky Gervais
Nutshell: Catching up with David Brent going on tour with his band Foregone Conclusion.
“Fans of The Office will enjoy seeing the sitcom’s shabby antihero again.”— The Guardian
“The cinematic return of the middle-management moron is the best thing Gervais has done in years.”— NME
“David Brent: Life on the Road has its moments.”— Rotten Tomatoes
“Gervais still wears Brent like a tailored suit.”— The A.V. Club
“Life on the Road works largely as a reminder of Gervais’s skill with this character’s tics.”— The Guardian
“He’s incredibly observant, a bit of a master of satire.”— Films and Things
“Really funny and incredibly entertaining.”— Films and Things
What follows is one unmitigated disaster after another. Yet Brent, somehow, never stays defeated for very long. He absorbs humiliation after humiliation with remarkable resilience until, eventually, even he begins to realise that reality is catching up with him and that the familiar road to disappointment may once again be unavoidable.
The film may not improve upon the legendary BBC series, but to its immense credit, it doesn’t disappoint for a single second either. Genuine Brent devotees will spend the entire running time cackling, grimacing, squirming, and cringing at his antics. Brent is absolutely bang on form, and it is a genuine pleasure to follow his latest inevitable descent into embarrassment. As always, the comedy is laced with pathos and a very human vulnerability that most of us probably share with him to some extent, however much we might prefer not to admit it.
There are moments of such jaw-dropping horror that audiences find themselves simultaneously howling with laughter and wanting the ground to swallow them whole. The evening Brent manages to score with a couple of birds is one such moment, and it doesn’t quite unfold with the effortless glamour he had imagined. His touching performance of the unforgettable “Don’t Make Fun of the Disableds” leaves audiences in a state somewhere between shock and hysterics. His attempts at dancing sexily are almost beyond description, while the photoshoot and his merciless slaughter of Alexander O’Neal remain vintage Brent at its very finest.
Then there’s the T-shirt cannon incident.
Honestly, I could go on and on. The entire film is littered with moments like these, and merely remembering some of them is enough to bring tears of laughter to the eyes. Very few films and very few characters possess that ability. This Is Spinal Tap is one. David Brent is another.
Perhaps the film won’t win Brent many new admirers. In truth, it probably isn’t trying to. Those already among the faithful, however, will come away thoroughly satisfied and wearing enormous smiles. Viewers hoping for radical reinvention, a fresh perspective, or some dramatic new direction for the character may well leave disappointed. Some reviews have complained about how familiar much of the material feels, but for genuine Brent fans the response is simple enough: why change something that isn’t broken?
It really is as straightforward as that.
The film won’t be taking home any Oscars, but it is already the most human, touching, ridiculous, and oddly beautiful experience I have had at the cinema all year, and perhaps for several years. Best of all, David Brent is back, and he remains as blindingly cringe-worthy, misguided, embarrassing, charming, and strangely lovable as ever.
David Brent: Life on the Road is an instant classic.
One can only hope and pray that the Americans don’t get their hands on it and decide to “improve” it to suit local tastes. American comedy is perfectly capable of being brilliant when it does its own thing, but David Brent is quintessentially British and should remain exactly that.
Another triumph for Ricky Gervais, who surely deserves a place among the greatest comic talents of all time.
