Beanbioca As Good As It Gets

Intcatinfo A Masterpiece!

Kien Navarro Exactly the movie you think it is, but not the movie you want it to be.

Ezmae Chang This is a small, humorous movie in some ways, but it has a huge heart. What a nice experience.

Neil Welch It is 15 years since David Brent lost his job at Wernham Hogg. After having a nervous breakdown he is now a sales rep for sanitary products company Lavitech, but he has never lost his ambition to achieve success as a rockstar. And so, with documentary film crew on board, he embarks on a tour with his band Foregone Conclusion (mark 2). He has, however, overlooked the one small flaw in his plan: he is still David Brent.Ricky Gervais revisits the central character from The Office in a feature length mockumentary in which we see that nothing much has changed - he is still a bombastic idiot whose extreme narcissism masks a contradictory lack of self-confidence, and his lack of self-awareness means that he offends vast numbers of people. The fact that, offstage, his band avoid contact with him, leads to a deeply sad scene.The comedy here is drawn from the same source as in The Office: it is the comedy of embarrassment, and that sort of comedy is an acquired taste. Having spent my working life in offices, the TV series struck too close to home for me to find it funny: but the stage is broader here and the songs, in particular, are masterful - they are awful, but not completely awful: they are simply misjudged - slightly, but totally.And the humour goes hand in hand with the fact that Brent is a deeply sad character, with only marginal awareness of just how sad he is. This isn't a tragedy, because the sadness is largely self-inflicted and there is always the hope of some sort of redemption. Also, despite his flaws, Brent does at least have the courage and drive to take big risks in pursuit of a dreamI left this film with two thoughts. One, Gervais at his best is a brilliant writer. And, two, he is vastly underrated as an actor. Yes, Brent is drawn with broad brushstrokes, but the scene towards the end where the soundman shares some thoughts with him in the hotel lobby was, I thought, a masterclass of understated acting.This film won't please everyone, but I think it will probably please those who thought Brent was the best thing in the UK The Office TV series.

gemimah-henderson I'm not a "super fan" or anything but I really enjoyed it. I also found the Office hilarious, I guess Ricky Gervais just knows where my elbow is haha. I can see how it wouldn't be funny for everyone, but comedy is about having a go and having a laugh and if you didn't like it, accept it and move on.

gazcoley-72611 Much better than I expected, not a massive e fan of Rocky, however was surprised at his good performance I would recommend as a good watch. Nice and easy viewing for a bed time film. Not to much thought required which suits me.....Good

bowmanblue 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?