Years after the original BBC series The Office wrapped, Ricky Gervais is returning to play the character which came to define him: David Brent. The awkward social behavior, painful attempts at wit, and general lack of awareness at the heart of Gervais’ portrayal earned him rightly-deserved praise. For making such a buffoon so damn watchable, for so many years, the spinoff movie David Brent: Life On The Road is now en route.
In the twelve years since we last saw him, Brent’s day-to-day existence has gone through some changes. He’s no longer working at Wernham Hogg — because he’s now a travelling sales rep who decides to self-fund a tour of the UK for his band, Foregone Conclusion. Yes, all those dreams of stardom are still present, along with his stifling inability to properly relate to other human beings. The trailer is a welcome reminder of how well the mockumentary format works when the subject matter suits it.
Folks in the UK, New Zealand and Ireland can welcome in a new era of Brent’s comedic hijinks when David Brent: Life On The Road hits cinemas in August, while those in the US will have to wait until 2017 when the movie arrives on Netflix.
David Brent is now a rep selling cleaning products up and down the country. The thing is he has never really given up the dream of being a rock star, and in this documentary movie we follow his one last shot at fame. We find out what he’s been up to since his days at Wernham Hogg and we follow him on the road trying to get a record deal. He puts a band together (a group of mercenary session musicians taking his money with absolutely no love for him or his dream) and ropes poor Dom (a rapper who he was meant to be managing) into coming on tour with him to give him a bit of credibility. Let down after let down, faux pas after faux pas Brent never gives up his dream… just his hard earned money and a cashed in pension to fund the whole folly. With original music by the man himself Life on The Road is like a comedy musical. It’s exciting, funny, excruciating and a little sad.