At first rather annoying in its heavy emphasis on reenactments, this movie ultimately proves fascinating, simply because the complicated, highly dramatic tale it tells still almost defies belief.

Exactly the movie you think it is, but not the movie you want it to be.

Strong acting helps the film overcome an uncertain premise and create characters that hold our attention absolutely.

Close shines in drama with strong language, adult themes.

ExtrasA fine detailed and keenly observed peek on behind the cameras on stage and the events occuring in their that effects the lives of extras and how they survive in this show business. It also intakes the fluctuations that one does undergo in fame, media and personality in a very mild but intense way that it no longer walks on comic tone but serious emotional trauma. Ricky Gervais proves his brilliant writing skills on witty humor, genuine moving emotions and thought provoking concept. He is well supported in performance level by Ashley Jensen and Stephen Merchant; who by the way is more hilarious than Ricky in here. Extras being tricky on its premise has quirky comedy that lets you cringe on your seat which all of it is overpowered later on by this high pitched dramatic act that was building up all the way through it.

Following up from "The Office", Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant have created another great show. "Extras" casts Gervais as Andy Millman, a supporting actor always having to be in the presence of temperamental movie stars (who play themselves). Eventually, Andy gets a role on a TV show as a dorky boss with a catchphrase.The setup is much the same as "The Office": it's made to look cinema verite, while the characters get into embarrassing situations with each other. Granted, Andy Millman is a little different from David Brent: David had nothing to do and so he deliberately made inappropriate comments; Andy hopes to make it big, and often claims that he already has.Probably the show's most impressive aspect is how the movie stars playing themselves portray themselves as pathetic individuals. For example, Kate Winslet stars in a movie about the Holocaust because she knows that people who star in movies about the Holocaust always win Oscars; Daniel Radcliffe, meanwhile, will do anything to get laid. Ben Stiller, Ian McKellen and Orlando Bloom also appear. Seriously, how many people would be willing to depict themselves on screen as worthless human beings? All in all, this is a great show. I hope that Ricky Gervais continues with this sort of work. A true masterpiece.

While this is a great, hilarious, unique show, I find it too predictable that the guest stars are simply made to behave in the opposite manner to their public and screen image: Kate Winslet is crude, Daniel Radcliffe is conceited and horny, Ross Kemp is a coward, Ian McKellan has no clue about the acting process, and so on. Lazy writing on Gervais' part, I think. And you really have to know your British actors and show biz personalities to get the in jokes: many will be lost on American audiences who won't recognize the guest stars.And while I love the scenes with "Barry" and Darren, I find it a guilty pleasure to see Shaun Williamson humiliating himself so much.

I've just watched pretty much all of the episodes on youtube, and I have to admit that this is probably one of the funniest and most sarcastic and at the same time wittiest TV shows I've seen in a long, long time. Ricky Gervais is a marvellous actor and just the last episode, the Christmas special, proved to me that he's not just a comedian but a really good actor, too. The scene in which he's on Big Brother for celebrities and just starts his short but astute speech against the contemporary media and their abuse of power just left me flabbergasted and gobsmacked. It felt as if he talked right from his heart and really meant everything he said. And I'd like to congratulate him on the risky decision to make the last episode not as funny as those before but instead giving it a less light-hearted touch. It moved me and I thought it was really deep.So, you British people out there, consider yourself lucky for having such great comedians and comedies. You have no idea what kind of stupid comedies we're forced to watch here in Germany. Most of it is just a cheap spin-off of what you do. For example, we have a German version of the Office, which isn't bad, but it's still nothing but a spin-off.Maybe the German language just wasn't meant to be funny.So, good bye, and if you ever meet one of us: Don't mention the war!