It’s been quite a few years since David Brent made an appearance, but what seems to be Ricky Gervais’s fall back character comes hurtling back at us in David Brent: Life on the Road, a kind of where are they now mockumentary which sees’s Brent still longing for Rock Star status.
Written, Directed and starring Gervais himself, David Brent: Life on the Road will be a massive hit amongst the diehard fans of The Office, staying faithful to the format of the TV series, but for the big screen. It’s played out like an extended episode of the much-loved series, However, this time, Brent has been beaten down by life, had a stint on Prozac which saw him balloon in size but he is still trying hard for everyone to like him but getting it oh so wrong with the constant inappropriate sexist, racist and fatist remarks. All in a desperate attempt to be funny but most of the time not realizing he simply isn’t being politically correct and offending most.
Brent now works as a Sales Rep for a cleaning products supplier, but this office is a completely different environment than Wernham Hogg. Brent has his little sidekick, not quite a Gareth but a mini Brent and the rest of the males in the office are aggressive alpha males who bully Brent. There is your Dawn replacement in Mandeep Dhillon and a lady from accounts who, not so secretly, has a crush on David.
However, David still loves his music and as he takes time out from his day job goes on the road with his hired band, Foregone Conclusion, and, who he hopes, his prodigy Dom who is played by Doc Brown – reprising his role from the Comic Relief sketch. The tour doesn’t quite turn out to be the success he was hoping as venues fail to bring in the crowds and the band refuses to spend any time with Brent as they simply can’t tolerate the man. It’s down to Dom to be David’s sometime companion as he pays for hotels and the tour bus and even pay’s the band to have a drink with him. David couldn’t be happier he has a Black friend, it makes him cool but still, the racial words flow easily before he can think. After a drunken night, he begs Dom to call him his N-word.
Of course the lyrics to all the songs performed by David and Forgone Conclusion where written by Gervais and we get to sample quite a few of the extremely catching, funny and extremely inappropriate songs in their entirety. Cringeworthy comes to mind, but there is no doubting the message of compassion the lyrics so poorly convey.
We witness an extremely vulnerable Brent which actually makes you feel sorry for him no matter how offensive he comes across. He is the only character you feel any real connection with and by the looks of the ending he may just get his happy ending. It may not be perfect as it clunks its way through its performance but Gervais venturing out on his own without his writing partner of Stephen Merchant hasn’t hindered the entertainment value The Office used to bring to our TV screens.
David Brent: Life on the Road is in cinemas August 19.