David Brent: Life on the Road

Plot

Fifteen years after his appearance in the BBC2 "documentary" series The Office, David Brent is a sales rep for bathroom supply firm Lavichem. His colleagues include his nemesis, Jezza, who cannot stand Brent or his jokes; however, he gets a more sympathetic response from colleague Pauline and receptionist Karen, and shares the same sense of humour as fellow sales rep Nigel.

Desperate to resume his music career and sign a record deal, Brent takes a month of unpaid leave and uses money from his pension to pay his fellow band members (Foregone Conclusion), his rapper friend Dom, Dan the sound engineer (whom he boldly offers double what he earns at the studio), a PR consultant, and many other costs, to arrange a tour of venues around Berkshire.

As the tour wears on, the band and crew refuse to socialise with Brent (unless he pays them to do so), and even make him drive behind the tour bus claiming there is no room for him. When Brent finally manages to convince a record company rep to attend a show, they are more interested in Dom's rapping than Brent's music. As the costs of the tour spiral out of control, sound engineer Dan confronts a dejected Brent, telling him to stop wasting his money. The band plays one final show, and then willingly join Brent for a drink.

Brent returns to Lavichem to the delight of Pauline, Karen and Nigel. Pauline asks him to take her out for a coffee and she takes his hand as they head out.

Cast

Music

Gervais announced that he will release the film's soundtrack album under Brent's recording label Juxtaposition Records. He finished writing the songs for the film in November 2014.

Chris Martin of Coldplay, who guest starred in Extras with Gervais, recorded music for the soundtrack together with him. Andy Burrows plays the drummer for Foregone Conclusion, and wrote some original songs with Gervais. They both have written several original songs for the film, including "Please Don't Make Fun of the Disabled" and "Native American". There are some familiar songs Gervais sang as Brent in The Office, and he has also included seven or eight new songs. He said, "there's a few we did for The Office, like 'Free Love Freeway', and also 'Paris Nights' and 'Spaceman Came Down'."

On 20 October 2015, Gervais published an exclusive photo of Brent on the set of his music video shoot for his song "Lady Gypsy". On 24 October, the Daily Mail reported a first look with pictures showing Brent cavorting with a woman dressed in gypsy folk dress, while he strums a guitar. The soundtrack album was released together with the film.

In May 2016, Gervais announced that Brent would be releasing a single in July ahead of the film release, and on 8 July 2016, Gervais released Brent's single "Lady Gypsy". The David Brent Songbook was released by Blink Publishing on 11 August 2016 eight days before the premiere of Life on the Road. Included are introductions by the character, exclusive images and the tracks arranged for piano, voice and guitar. Gervais said: "This book is a dream come true for Brent...Even though this is clearly a humour book, the sheet music is real and the songs are insanely catchy and easy to play. Go and get the guitar." Gervais revealed that the album has 15 tracks, with the vinyl edition containing 2 LPs.

Gervais has set some live David Brent and Foregone Conclusion concerts to promote the film.

Soundtrack

1. "Ooh La La"
2. "Native American"
3. "Lonely Cowboy"
4. "Free Love Freeway"
5. "Life on the Road"
6. "Slough"
7. "Thank Fuck It's Friday"
8. "Lady Gypsy"
9. "Please Don't Make Fun of the Disableds"
10. "Paris Nights"
11. "Don't Cry It's Christmas"
12. "Spaceman"
13. "Equality Street"
14. "Ain't No Trouble"
15. "Electricity"

Production

The film was first revealed in August 2016. Gervais said that he was excited to show the world what David Brent is up to now. Stephen Merchant, co-creator of The Office, was not involved in the film's production.

Principal photography began in November 2015, with Gervais directing as well as starring. Filming ran through 18 December 2015, and was shot in locations in London and Slough.

Release

Entertainment One and BBC Films co-financed the film. Entertainment One distributed the film in the UK, Australia and New Zealand. Open Road Films distributed the film in the United States, although Netflix later acquired distribution rights to the film in all territories excluding the UK, Ireland, Australia and New Zealand.

On 15 March 2016 Gervais released the first posters of the film, both featuring Gervais as Brent. The film received its first official release on 19 August 2016 in the United Kingdom. On 7 April 2016, Gervais released the first teaser trailer of the movie. It showed Brent in his office interacting with his co-workers.

Reception

The film has received generally favourable reviews from critics: it currently holds a Rotten Tomatoes score of 67% based on 52 reviews, with an average rating of 6.4/10.