First Take: David Brent: Life on the Road: an idiot doesn’t travel abroad here.

SYPNOSIS: A camera crew catches up with David Brent, the former star of the BBC Two series The Office as he takes his band out on a tour.

Ricky Gervais has pretty much done it all. With several big TV series to his name alongside some moderately successful films, the time would eventually come where he took the beloved David Brent character to the big screen. I am very happy to report that he’s done a great job with Life on the Road.

The plot and style of the film will be familiar to fans of The Office, as this is basically a feature length episode focused solely on Brent (played excellently by Gervais) and his band Foregone Conclusion. The script also delivers the same humour too, with no demographic or age group being safe from the offensive nature of a Gervais project- this is also evident in the songs that have been written for the film, with tracks including ‘Please Don’t Make Fun of the Disabled’ getting a few laughs from what was a good audience at my screening. Performance-wise, the entire cast are great, and I have to single out Ben Bailey Smith as rapper Dom Johnson- However, I do have one criticism, and it’s a common issue with these TV-to-film adaptations- Life on the Road felt like it was a little bit too long for it’s own good. Sure, 96 minutes is a great running time for a comedy, but the pacing of the film makes it a little bit of a challenge to watch.

THE VERDICT

Life on the Road might not be a worthy successor to The Office, but it’s a great way to continue the saga of David Brent. The humour, performances and script are pure genius, but the running time does make it feel dragged out. Either way, fans of the original show will love the film.

RATING- 4/5