Review of Special Correspondents (2016) by Kaptenvideo — 01 Sep 2017

It’s a Netflix-produced project written and directed by legendary comedy mastermind Ricky Gervais, who also stars alongside Eric Bana.

A radio journalist (Bana) and his technician (Gervais) fake their own kidnapping during a rebel uprising in Ecuador and try to hide out in New York instead. Also appearing: Vera Farmiga, Kelly Macdonald, Kevin Pollak, America Ferrera, Raúl Castillo, Benjamin Bratt et al.

Like most of Gervais’s movies, it’s not as sharp and funny as his famous for based on his other works (TV series, standup, podcasts etc). Sadly, it’s also nearly not as mainstream friendly as most of his movies which have at least some memorable LOL moments.

It’s based on a decent idea and the screenplay is competent, but the humor is rather dry and intellectual, making one go „I see what they did here“ rather than really enjoying the show.

The satirical pokes about the authenticity of modern media business and the worthiness of the stars it creates gives the story at least some extra depth, even if you won't remember it the next morning.

Dialogue and acting are competent, too, but we spend most of the time in the company of two men with no palpable chemistry – just doing their work and being professional about it.

Always solid Vera Farmiga gives a more juicier performance as a technician’s villainous wife but she can’t conquer the overall dryness of it all, either.

The movie also looks cheap, which is not a problem in itself because the small budget sets its limits. But I have to say it’s overall one of the less exciting Gervais projects I’ve seen. Sorry.

At least it doesn’t go on for too long, although at 101 minutes it’s not exactly short either. And yes, disappointing Gervais is still better than no Gervais at all.

IMDb says it's a remake of 2009's French comedy "Envoyés très spéciaux". Both have mediocre user rating but the newer version has a bit higher score (5.8 vs 5.3 out of 10).