There are good jokes and good moments here, but like so much of Gervais's work it's compromised by sentimentality and crushed by his determination to tell the audience exactly how they should feel about what they're watching. The irony here is that Gervais makes exactly the same mistake as his protagonist. We're invited to laugh at Brent explaining his song lyrics in excruciating detail but then offered the same clumsy preaching in the character's paint-by-numbers redemption in the final ten minutes. When Tim and Dawn finally got together in The Office's closing moments we believed it and we cheered for it because the writing and acting had earned that response. Thirteen years on Gervais no longer respects his audience enough for such trivia as character development. He offers us constant buffoonery and tells us to laugh at it for almost an hour and a half but then cheer for it right at the end for no reason other than that he wants to give his alter ego a happy ending. Next time out I sincerely hope he collaborates with another writer, director or producer with the authority to remind him of the basics of storytelling.
Review of David Brent: Life on the Road
