Brent out of shape
The Office is in the rearview mirror as Brent goes on tour…
David Brent: Life On The Road Starring Ricky Gervais, Ben Bailey Smith, Kevin Bishop, Andy Burrows Director Ricky Gervais ETA 19 August Set 15 years after The Office, Life On The Road sees David Brent (Ricky Gervais) schlepping up and down the country as he combines his day job as a travelling salesman with his dream of making it as a rock star. Having cashed in his pension, he’s taking his band Foregone Conclusion on tour, and naturally a documentary crew tag along.
Gervais, who also writes and directs, stresses that Life On The Road is “not an Office movie”, and that the co-stars of his seminal TV series (Stephen Merchant, Martin Freeman, Mackenzie Crook, et al) will not be making an appearance. Instead he will be joined on screen by rapper/ comic Ben Bailey Smith (AKA Doc Brown) as Dom, a musician who Brent is holding back; Tom Basden as the band’s road manager, Dan; and the likes of Kevin Bishop, Diane Morgan and Razorlight drummer Andy Burrows as Brent’s fellow band members. Foregone Conclusion’s tracks include ‘Please Don’t Make Fun Of The Disabled’ and ‘Native American’.
Gervais says that Life On The Road is a movie about “delusion, desperation and excruciating faux pas, all wrapped up in one little middle-aged rep on his continued quest for fame and acceptance.”
Thing is, that quest is now tougher than ever, so expect the cringecom to ratchet up a few notches. “In The Office, Brent was 40 and going through a bit of a midlife crisis, but he was basically in charge of quite a sweet office with nice people,” says Gervais. “But the world’s changed behind him. Now it’s a dog-eat-dog world. Now we’ve got people getting on The Apprentice by going, ‘I will destroy anyone who gets in my way.’ There’s a whole new culture of rolling over people to get what you want. It’s applauded.”
Expect plenty of grimace with your grin. Jamie Graham