Ricky Gervais took on the significant challenge of bringing his most memorable character to the big screen in 2016 with the release of David Brent: Life On The Road. It’s no easy feat to attempt and while Steve Coogan just about pulled it off (ooh, pardon) with Alan Partridge: Alpha Papa a few years back, there was always going to be a fair amount of pressure to do something that’s more than just chucking yourself into the cinema.
If you were hoping for the rest of The Office stars to be a part of the film, you might as well kiss it goodbye now, because not a single one of them got the call up. Gervais has essentially gone fully solo for the production, so there will be no Gareth, Tim, Dawn, Kieth or Finchy in the lineup – who said there was no I in team? Gandhi? Dolly Parton? Bono? We’re not too sure, but it’s definitely one of the most annoying phrases ever created!
Release date
Cinema:
Life On The Road had a UK release date of Friday the 19th August 2016, but for US fans of the show there was only a very limited release with the American version of the show being more well known in the States. In the UK, it went up against the 2016 movie adaptation of Swallow And Amazons, sci-fi romance The Space Between Us and supernatural horror flick Lights Out on the same weekend.
DVD, Blu-ray and digital download:
The film will be coming to DVD, Blu-ray and digital download rental on the 12th December 2016 with the digital download version of the film available to buy a week earlier.
Story
It’s been a shocking, “where the hell did the time go, hey”, fifteen years since the BBC mockumentary that gave the world David Brent first aired and the film picks up with the tiny dancer as he heads out on tour with his band, Foregone Conclusion. Dipping into his own pocket to keep the band together with low ticket sales, while also trying to hold down a job as a sales rep, the old DB has got to go to a lot of effort to keep his own delusions alive.
Cast
Obvs Ricky Gervais will be in character as the superstar office monkey come chanteur David Brent and he’ll be joined by rapper Doc Brown (AKA Ben Bailey Smith) as Dom Johnson, Brent’s talented band mate who he tries to prevent from developing as an artist. Gervais and Doc worked together before the film on the Comic Relief spoof single Equality Street.
The line-up also includes Andy Burrows of We Are Scientists and Razorlight fame as Brent’s drummer. Tom Basden, Jo Hartley and Andrew Brooke have also been cast in the film.
Production
With Ricky Gervais taking on the responsibility of starring in, writing, directing and producing the film, there isn’t too much room for anyone else on the credits, the greedy little fat man. Charlie Hanson joins him as co-producer and executive producers are Duncan Hayes, Christine Langan and Alex Hamilton. However, Gervais will also be in charge of the music too, so he’s really keeping a tight watch on the auteuristically drawn purse strings.
First impression
Prepare to get your life’s supply of cringe-worthy moments out of the way all in a single 1.5-hour block with David Brent: Life On The Road as Gervais goes harder than ever to cum across as the biggest door knob on the dance floor. From the look of the trailer below, you’ll probably never need to feel embarrassment in your life ever again by comparison alone.
The jokes pick up directly where The Office left off, but with even less, admittedly limited, restrain than before. It’s a shame there’s not going to be more of the old faces from the original series, but with Martin Freeman being tied up with Benedict Cumberbatch most of the time these days (fan girls would love that!) there probably wasn’t much time to join Ricky on his free love freeway to box office success. Plus, this way Gervais gets to bag most of the takings all for himself without the need to pay any big name cast member pay check. Down there for dancing!
Either way, we’re looking forward to seeing the train crash of Foregone Conclusion’s UK music tour playing out with David Brent in the cab, stripped to the waist and sweating like a beast as he shovels the comedy coal into the engine of malcontent. #BrentsBack and fingers crossed it’ll be better than ever.
