Looking Back at David Brent: Life on the Road

When David Brent: Life on the Road was released in 2016, it seemed like an unexpected move by Ricky Gervais. It had been 13 years since The Office Christmas Specials had aired and Gervais had moved onto many other projects both in the UK and America. After The Office and Extras, came Hollywood movies The Invention of Lying (2009) and Ghost Town (2008) while he also released stand-up specials and worked on various projects with Karl Pilkington. Besides a small cameo in the American Office, not many people thought they would see David Brent again.

Gervais starred in, wrote and directed David Brent: Life of the Road. It had no involvement from co-creator Stephen Merchant who was working on projects of his own. In fact, it has very little involvement or association with anyone from the original UK series of The Office, with the cast including Martin Freeman, Lucy Davis, and Mackenzie Crook, not returning. Instead of the original Wernham Hogg employees, we see a lot of actors that Gervais would go on to work with in Derek and After Life including Jo Hartley, Tom Bennett, Andrew Brooke, and Tom Basden.

The story follows Ricky Gervais as he goes for “one last push” to see if he can make it in the music business. He is now working as a sales rep for Lavichem where he is the victim of bullying in the workplace. Brent uses unpaid leave to go on the road with his band Foregone Conclusion (Mark II). The film splits between his life in the office and out on tour with his bandmates.

It’s a tour where all the gigs are located within driving distance of Brent’s house. Attendance for the gigs is low and Brent is spending his pension and maxing out his credit cards on paying the band who don’t like him, a tour bus he doesn’t get to go on, hotels and PR. A lot of the humour derives from Brent having to spend money on everything.

This constant bullying from all sides is an issue with the film. If we take the band and Dan, the sound engineer, it feels like they are being so toxic to him that it seems inconsistent with the film’s finale when they all have a drink and Dan tells him, “I like you.” Brent hires a tour bus with his own money and they don’t let him on because ‘there isn’t enough room.’ They don’t speak to him in between gigs and look at him like he’s a freak of nature. I understand that Brent is annoying and rubs people up the wrong way but the way he is treated in this movie by many of the characters is inhuman. It seems just a little much and isn’t as subtle as character interactions in The Office.

However, the original songs when the band is on stage are funny, the lyrics are smart, and you can tell Gervais is having a blast performing them. Therein most likely lies why David Brent has been resurrected, to write and perform this music. Gervais was previously in a band, Seona Dancing, before his acting and comedy career took off and this musical background gives the songs authenticity. You could listen to them on the radio and not bat an eyelid. Ben Bailey-Smith’s Dom Johnson, a rap act that Brent uses to boost his social conscience, is class in all his music scenes.

Gervais collaborated with Chris Martin and Andy Burrows, who has a role as the drummer in the film, to write 15 songs for the film which were also released on an album. The track used for the opening of the film, “Life on the Road,” is a particular highlight with the lyric “Then to Gloucester, I get a Costa” still stuck in my head.

Gervais also does a great job at broadening the character and fleshing him out more than what we saw in the television series. It’s revealed that since the filming for the original documentary, Brent has had a breakdown, spent some time voluntarily in a facility, and even considered suicide. His scene with the psychologist is important in that we see he is affected by every sting and setback but continues on and attempts to make people laugh in every situation. He is taking on a heavy burden with this tour, but he must fulfil his dream. When he talks with such happiness about the first Foregone Conclusion and the paths his former bandmates have taken, there is a real longing to go back to those days. Unfortunately, these scenes make it harder when everyone treats him so badly. I know we are supposed to feel empathy for Brent, but most of his bandmates are just straight up mean to him all the time apart from right at the end, and knowing the psychological state of Brent this is very troubling.

On the other hand, Gervais really goes all out in the memefication of Brent. What I mean by that is so many awkward comments he makes has an exhalation or nervous laugh afterwards. In The Office there would be a few of these a series and they were much more subtle, but I guess so many years of not playing the character makes you up the ante with the fan favourites. The looks to the camera that were present in the series are so overt here that you’d think the cast were told to be looking at the camera after every line.

There are a lot of fun scenes and great situations to put the character into. The radio interview with Kevin Bishop’s DJ at Tadley FM is spot on, obviously Gervais has plenty of experience in this arena of radio presenting. Also, his quest to pick up women who just scoff everything in his minibar. Whether getting a tattoo or posing for a photoshoot, there are plenty of rock and roll scenarios for Brent to bungle through. His eternal optimism through everything gives the movie its heart.

Life on the Road is missing something, and that something could be the collaboration of Stephen Merchant. The focus on Brent means that supporting characters are rather one-dimensional. Either they like Brent or despise him. The human element, besides Brent, is missing and that’s one of the things that made The Office so special. TV and film are different mediums, but some extra time could have been spent exploring the rest of the cast slightly more in favour of one of the music performances.

There is one more small quibble I had when watching Life on the Road. This is true of any movie so isn’t directly an attack here. When your characters are having small talk, please don’t reference football. Besides old mobile phones and technology, there is nothing that will date your movie quicker that talking about sport. They reference England and Daniel Sturridge in this film, a great player at the time, but a year or so later was not playing for England and not even playing regular football anymore. I know this seems petty, but it can take you out of the movie.

Case For:

The original songs are great and funny. You can really tell Gervais had a blast recording them.

Brent’s character is more fleshed out and reveals he had a breakdown, gained a lot of weight and spent time voluntarily in an asylum, it also implies he considered suicide. The broadens the character and gives an extra dimension than the Brent we saw in the original series.

There are some great scenes: Brent describing what happened to his old bandmates, his radio interview with Kevin Bishop’s DJ, and bringing some girls back to his hotel room to clean out the minibar.

Case Against:

Sometimes it feels like everyone is purposely being so mean to Brent that it no longer feels realistic and takes you out of the film.

Gervais really goes all out playing Brent by almost doing a meme-heavy performance. The looks at camera and exhaling laughs aren’t as subtle as the television show.

The ending isn’t consistent with the characterisation of the supporting cast throughout the rest of the film. People can’t be so toxic to a character and then say they don’t mind them in the end. The payoff was lacking.

What the Critics Said:

“It's missing, entirely, the humanizing elements of the 'Office; series - presumably because Gervais, the sole writer/director/star (and sole performer to cross over from that series) has vastly overestimated the character's appeal.” Jason Bailey – Flavorwire

“Gervais still wears Brent like a tailored suit, but 15 years of age has taken a lot of the bite out of both the performer and the character.” Josh Modell – AV Club

“If nothing else, this is a reminder of what a beautifully realised and horribly relatable a character David Brent is. We all know someone a bit like this man.” Tom Huddleston – Time Out

Conclusion:

If you can disassociate this from The Office, it’s a relatively enjoyable British comedy. The music is the reason to watch this, and Gervais really enjoys performing his songs. Don’t expect the magic of the original series, but if you take it as its own entity, you should find something of value here.