David Brent is the same sad-sack you knew from The Office all those years ago. He works in a different office now, barely, and he’s still possessed of this illusions of grandeur that made him so pathetically lovable. He’s decided to fund a rock star tour to live out his 
wildest fantasy in the hopes that he’ll find his sound, and his audience (and presumably some talent).
Ricky Gervais reprises his beloved The Office character, but David Brent is the only familiar face in this new film, so fans hoping the rekindle the magic will be disappointed. The good news is, so will everyone else. The truth is, it just doesn’t work. David Brent is a tired joke and Gervais doesn’t have anything new for the character, despite the 15 year interval. And without the proper context (and the necessary supporting characters, who humanize him), David Brent feels a lot more annoyingly contemptible rather than the lovable loser we need him to be.
It’s raining right now in Ottawa. It’s just a notch above freezing, which means the rain is 
washing away some of our snow, and the flooded streets are gray and sickly-looking, the disappearing snow uncovering all the gross things hidden over the winter: cigarette butts, McDonald’s wrappers, and a sad collection of lost gloves.
David Brent: Life on the Road is like a lost glove. On its own, it’s useless. It’s sad and forlorn and frankly, it’s only fit for the garbage.
ASSHOLES WATCHING MOVIES 
To be honest I was never keen on him when I first saw the series way back, made me cringe buckets!
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I never did get into The Office. Too awkward. And Ricky Gervais… Yeah, skipping this.
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So disappointing. I am a Ricky fan but his films are hit or miss. This film seemed like one that I might like to check out but frankly, I haven’t heard anything good about it. Even with his tv shows, I think he peaked with Extras after the Office.
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Yeah, I haven’t liked a lot from him lately. That last one was just putrid.
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That is unfortunate because he used to be funny.
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This looked dreadful. I wasn’t a big fan of The Office (though I did get into the US version- go figure) and thought this was the last thing anyone needed. Always a bad sign when someone goes dragging out a character they left behind 15 years ago. Especially without the supporting cast that helped make it work in the first place.
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Exactly. You can’t go home again. Stop trying.
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While it doesn’t touch the gold standard of the UK ‘Office’ (I have to make that distinction), I enjoyed meeting up with the character again. Gervais has his fair share of sniper critics in the bushes, but he knows this character well. I wonder, if this was done as a TV special, would some of the reactions have been so negative? All said, I laughed enough times and enjoyed long parts of it, but he goes too early for the pathos and it would’ve been great to see Tim, Dawn and Gareth at one of the shows.
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