the audience applauded

Good idea lost in the noise

Excellent but underrated film

It is neither dumb nor smart enough to be fun, and spends way too much time with its boring human characters.

I did not laugh or even chuckle, as I more and more grimly watched this production.I won't bore you with the details, other than to say the plot was predictable once the premise was established, and was never believable. A big surprise, based on the genius of The Office and Extras. Still, when you see what a dud Derek also was, it doesn't take a genius to realize that the missing ingredient is Stephen Merchant. Once he left the collaboration, Gervais's comedic success has nosedived.

I wasn't expecting much from this movie but I thought I would give it ago. The result: not the best movie but it was quite an enjoyable one, had great actors for the movie. It is one of those movies that you only watch once, maybe twice. The two main actors Eric Bana & Ricky Gervais worked together really well. There was a mix of everything, romance, comedy and action. Had some good supporting actors. I did get caught of guard with the language, as I am not the biggest fan of swearing. I was also a bit disappointed when Eric Bana & Ricky Gervais started doing drugs towards the end, I don't like drugs at all. So it did put a bit of a dampener on the movie. But a part from that the movie was enjoyable. A movie worth watching.

A few days ago, I got around to watching this new Netflix orig. movie from Ricky Gervais. A radio journalist (Eric Bana) and his technician (Gervais) get in over their heads when they hatch a scheme to fake their own kidnapping during a rebel uprising in South America. This is one of those little comedies you're really not expecting that much; starts off kinda slow, but actually once it gets going, I found it quite amusing. It's not knee-slapping, fall-off-your-chair type funny, but it is humorous for most of the thing. I think it's just the plot line you find awful hard to believe in this day and age, with all the cell phone access, internet access, social media, etc.. Maybe this is the kinda comedy that would've worked, from a storyline perspective, thirty years ago?? LOL And Kelly MacDonald ("Boardwalk Empire") has got the thickest Irish accent I think I've ever heard. I wasn't quite sure if she was attempting to do an American accent, or maybe just gave up on it at some point during the film-?? LOL Vera Farmiga and Kevin Pollock co-star.

In all likelihood it went over many people's heads, considering how inundated we are with pointless comedies that often receive a far higher rating on IMDb or higher ticket sales at the box office.Great to see Eric Bana killing it again, but this time figuratively in a role as a self-confident, rogue reporter at a local news station. So too is the rest of the hilarious character gallery, along with their quirky foibles, from the manipulative money-grubbing sociopath played by Vera Farmiga to the over-emotional America Ferrera. Not to mention Gervais in the leading actor playing a fumbling doofus technician with low self-esteem, but with the redeemable quality of being kindhearted and well-meaning. Until he snorts coke, that is.. The film has a fair amount of subtle humor baked into the dialogue and contains a broader societal satire e.g. on the superficiality of news media, on the obsession with fame in today's docusoap infested society, and on the callous amorality of the drug gangs of Latin America, etc. It's also a feelgood movie you leave with a smile, but that nonetheless doesn't suffer from being syrupy and maudlin which is so typical for the genre. The low-budget remake of the original French film feels like a fresh take in a world where Hollywood constantly churns out focus group-tested flavorless rom-coms.