I must admit, as a huge fan of The Office, Extras and Ricky's stand up, I've become used to deep belly laughs aplenty whenever I watch the work of this great comic, and so before I sat down to watch Special Correspondents I was fully expecting a similar comedic experience. I was wrong.
To anyone who plans to watch this movie who has a similar expectation - you may be disappointed. Do not, however, deprive yourself of what is a smart, entertaining movie. Once I accepted that there would only be a few chuckles here and there, I was able to genuinely enjoy Gervais' latest outing. This felt very much like a drama/comedy as opposed to a comedy/drama.
There is a great chemistry between Gervais and Bana throughout, and for anyone who enjoys light satire this is definitely well worth a watch. I can't stress enough that if you are expecting tonnes of laugh out loud moments, you simply won't enjoy this movie for what it is, all though for fans of The Office, look out for a moment in the movie where Ian Finch (Gervais) attempts to record a heartfelt plea on video camera to the people of America, where he initially gets his tone and demeanor wrong - for around ten seconds he fully channels Brent. Priceless.
To anyone who plans to watch this movie who has a similar expectation - you may be disappointed. Do not, however, deprive yourself of what is a smart, entertaining movie. Once I accepted that there would only be a few chuckles here and there, I was able to genuinely enjoy Gervais' latest outing. This felt very much like a drama/comedy as opposed to a comedy/drama.
There is a great chemistry between Gervais and Bana throughout, and for anyone who enjoys light satire this is definitely well worth a watch. I can't stress enough that if you are expecting tonnes of laugh out loud moments, you simply won't enjoy this movie for what it is, all though for fans of The Office, look out for a moment in the movie where Ian Finch (Gervais) attempts to record a heartfelt plea on video camera to the people of America, where he initially gets his tone and demeanor wrong - for around ten seconds he fully channels Brent. Priceless.