You love the BBC version of “The Office,” you miss it, you want more. Well, you’re not getting it. Lead actor/creator Ricky Gervais has insisted that his upcoming Netflix picture is “not an Office film,” so this is more of a spinoff, though it does have him star once more as the cringeworthy, insufferable and incompetent former office middle manager David Brent.
Things have changed for Brent. In fact, it’s 15 years after the fact and the character is no longer at Wernham-Hogg Paper Merchants. Instead, he’s struck out with his band Foregone Conclusion who he unreasonably believes will be documented by Martin Scorsese as the legendary filmmaker did with the Rolling Stones.
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Shot in a “where are they now?” mockumentary style, it should be noted this is the first ‘Office’/David Brent project that hasn’t included Gervais’ longtime comedic partner Stephen Merchant. It will be interesting to see if Gervais can sustain the comedy without his pal and or strike the right tonal balance. Brent was always unbearable, but in a comedic manner that never made him totally loathsome. It was that equilibrium that made fans continue to watch the show despite its excruciating lead character.
Can it work years later? We sure hope so. Directed and written by Gervais himself, “David Brent: Life On The Road” will hit Netflix on February 10th.