Review of David Brent: Life on the Road (2016) by Leon B — 01 Jan 2017

If the name upfront in the title sparks the slightest recognition, you're probably already well in the market for a ticket to this very amusing new British comedy. A disarmingly tender-hearted comedy that has a lot to say about loneliness, human connection, dreams and terrible pub music. With four hearty laughs in the first two minutes, David Brent: Life on the Road starts with promise and goes on to be an immensely satisfying, sometimes uncomfortable, return to form. The film doesn't really do anything radical here; it sticks to the mock-doc format perfected by This is Spinal Tap, but it's funny in that cringe-inducing laugh-or-cry way that made The Office such a great show. Hysterically funny and desperately acute examination of one of mankind's greatest, and most universal, weaknesses. While Gervais returns often to the same comedic well, he's adept at transforming simple miscues into horrific spirals of embarrassment. Happily, what's in no short supply is the same mix of uproarious failure and sledgehammer pathos that Brent at his best was always all about. Although signposted a little more heavily than before, the jokes are as fast, relentless and shocking as we remember. It's hardly surprising Brent's first big-screen outing is, by far, one of the funniest and one of the best movies of the year. But I didn't expect it to be one of the most heart-breaking too.

VERDICT: "High-Quality Stuff" - [Positive Reaction] This is a rating to a movie I view as very entertaining and well made, and definitely worth paying the full price at a theatre to see or own on DVD. It is not perfect, but it is definitely excellent. (Films that are rated 3.5 or 4 stars).