The songs Ricky Gervais has written for Brent on his YouTube channel are nearly all very funny and would have carried this film to be a smash hit. Unfortunately, he decided to rely on old jokes from The Office and the basic same story from The Office Christmas Specials. Get back with Stephen Merchant please, everything you have done on your own has been average at best.

About 13 years on from his appearance in the documentary series The Office, a documentary film crew is once again following the life of David Brent. He is now working as a rep for cleaning goods distributor but still harbours dreams of making it big in the music business. Acting on this, he takes three weeks off work and tours with a new- look version of Foregone Conclusion, the band he was in in the 90s (he's the only remaining original member, for various reasons...).Brilliantly funny. Very similar in humour to The Office, and captures well the awkwardness of David Brent in that series. Heaps of laugh-out-loud moments and a fair few scenes that you can't bear to watch they are so awkward (and this is a good thing).Spinal Tap-esque as well, due to the music and the way it captures the ups and downs of a touring band.On the subject of the music, part of the humour is in David Brent's incredibly bad/clumsy lyrics (another Spinal Tap trait). Considering this aim, the songs are actually very well written. The music (rather than lyrics) is good, and well performed. Towards the end there is a serious music moment, and this is also written and performed very well.Some sweet moments towards the end, adding some emotion to the humour.Good work by Ricky Gervais, as director, writer and actor. Despite the 13-year gap, the continuity from The Office appears effortless and seamless.

As a fan of the UK office I may be biased; but I thought Life On The Road was a terrifically entertaining film throughout. Has all the elements of cringe and humiliation from the original office - minus the sterling casting and was more of a solo-effort from Gervais.I've gone off Gervais as a person over the years, with his endless bashing of Christianity and bullying of subordinates; but like in his earlier work, this is a reminder of what a remarkable talent he is.The songs are incredible, as is Gervais' singing - The Disabled song had me in guilt-ridden stitches. A very welcome diversion from the restrictive SJW / PC world of entertainment we live in now.

STAR RATING: ***** Saturday Night **** Friday Night *** Friday Morning ** Sunday Night * Monday Morning The insufferable David Brent (Ricky Gervais) has moved on from his days at Warnham Hogg, and is now a sales agent for a cleaning products company. But feeling unappreciated and unsatisfied in his role (though unable to see how he's the cause of his own demise), he decides to reform his band Forgone Conclusion and sets off on a nationwide tour, but playing in small venues to a far from sold out crowd. Brent's support act is aspiring rapper Dom Johnson (Doc Brown), who upstages him at every turn.Huge cultural phenomenon though it was, The Office never really entered into the list of my favourite British comedies. Personally, I preferred Gervais's celebrity satire Extras, which just caught my eye that little bit more. But that's not to say I couldn't remember the glittering moments of comedy gold from it, and Gervais certainly created a culturally iconic comedy creation that has endured. I've caught this belated film adaptation at a time when his name is mud because of his tasteless baby death jokes, and so it's lucky it's not just come out on general release, and this serves to transport you back to a simpler time before he got so carried away with himself.As Steve Coogan proved with his filmic Alan Partridge several years ago, you can resurrect an old character and still win over the critics. Whether Gervais's Brent adaptation was received so favourably, I'm not sure, but like the best of them, the concept is stretched that bit further in a film format than on TV, and there are times when the pace suffers and you wonder whether the material has the strength to last the length. Luckily, after a sluggish start, Gervais brings the character to life and makes him funny all over again, a guy who thinks he's so cool and talented but just comes off like someone's embarrassing uncle. Where it slides is the inconsistent tone between making him an arrogant, insensitive arsehole and lovable buffoon, which is a tricky roll of the dice.It struggles to really keep the pace of the show, but it's faithful to its source, and there are enough belly laughs to make it worth your time. ***