3 Ups And 2 Downs From David Brent: Life On The Road

The Downs:

2. It Doesn't Quite Hang Together As A Full Movie

The biggest problem with "sitcom movies" (which, despite doubling as a spin-off, Life On The Road ultimately is) is that all too often they can wind up being a "special episode" rather than a fully-fledged movie, ballooning a thirty minute plot to ninety, and while David Brent is certainly no Likely Lads, it likewise can't quite carry the expansion to the silver screen.

Crucially, it drops in and out of being faithful to the documentary format. Brent narrates certain moments to save on set-up, which is fine until it's dropped mid-way through and the whole thing becomes a more conventional drama. In a similar forgetting of form, the conflicting camera angles and extreme close-ups are highly impractical from a silent film crew, while scenes in Brent's hotel room as he goes to sleep feel totally invasive. It allows for a more involving story, but This Isn't Spinal Tap.

The story is likewise a little choppy, made up more of vignettes than a coherent, flowing narrative. Entire sub-plots come and go without a mention, almost like a massive amount of set-pieces were shot and the best few actually put in the film.

Gervais is an experienced director by sheer numbers, but the only one of his previous films that really worked was Cemetery Junction, which he made alongside Stephen Merchant (and that was mired in overwhelming sentimentality), and that shows to some degree here. Maybe it would have worked better as a TV special. Although they couldn't have actually done that, because it's kinda already been done...