Change Your Image
paul2705
Reviews
David Brent: Life on the Road (2016)
Very disappointing
If you enjoyed The Office UK in 2002 on the grounds of it being mad, witty, very relatable and having a beautiful story and characters to go with it all, then you're in for an anticipated disappointment. The way The Office ended back then suggested redemption was possible, and that Brent was, deep down, a good (albeit disoriented and insecure) chap. More than 15 years on, Brent has forgotten that lesson and has instead degenerated on all levels: he hasn't moved forward work-wise, his songwriting is ludicrous, he has no relationships, and has become something more of a sad, delusional, senile child than the odious chubby manager at Wernham Hogg. He is pathetic, but since he has no power and looks defeated, this is no longer funny. To make matters worse, all other characters are trite and predictable, while there's hardly a story and definitely not the slightest surprise in the plot. Predictibility is certainly its outstanding feature. Repetition its condemnation; racial/ sexist out of place jokes that outrage crowds and again seem to suggest Brent is now mentally gone for good. It does seem Ricky has scraped the bottom of the pan in an attempt to revive at least a glimpse of former glory, but ends up only degrading the good memory of his previous achievements. And while nothing could shadow the genius of The Office, you do wonder why he didn't just leave this beauty alone and get on to something else; it's like your favorite rock band regrouping at 70 only to embarrass themselves and cloud the good memories.
Scusa ma ti chiamo amore (2008)
Redi
If you're as lucky as me, for a little less than 2 hours you'll suspend your judgment on things and let yourself in for a pleasant ride through the themes that have obsessed humanity for ages just like if you were enjoying a 2 chord love pop song. Once you adjust to the cliché-ridden cinematic language, you develop the necessary antibodies to enjoy this film. As for the recurrence of the theme (mismatching ages in couples) one can say that the way it's dealt with it's in itself a blow to the notion that chronological age coincides with personal evolution. And, I believe films are a great means to delve into this very fact, which society in general discredits. Even more so considering the film successfully stays away from the moral debate and controversy, maybe portraying a very strong willed young lady that one wouldn't for a minute feel was being deceived or coerced into a relationship with an older man. The characters are satisfactorily amusing, and humor in general does spice up the flow of things in general. The fact the film is Italian and not Hollywood is a definite plus, at least for the change.
The ending, mildly unanticipated, spares us from the typical lecture on sensibility and maturity and gives way to a praise of passion we all need to see. To conclude, although making a list of cinematic and narrative atrocities would be far too easy, I feel this film's perk is that you can really enjoy it in full awareness that none of it bares much resemblance with reality.