Special Correspondents Is A Wonderful, Relevant, Satire!

The Good: Very funny, Wonderful plot development, Good performances
The Bad: Some pacing issues in the middle, Unlikable characters
The Basics: Special Correspondents is a Netflix Original Film that puts Ricky Gervais in the three major creative roles for a film . . . and he makes a smart success!


Netflix exclusive films have been a true mixed bag for me. Out of the six I have watched before today, three were flat-out terrible, two were all right and one was wonderful. So, sitting down to Special Correspondents and knowing only that it was a Netflix Original Film was not enough to get me to watch. But then, I found out it starred Ricky Gervais and Eric Bana and I figured, "it would be hard to produce something bad with the two of them!" Then, I saw that Ricky Gervais had written and directed the film and my thought was "How was this not a blockbuster comedy release?" Then I watched it and was left even more baffled.

Special Correspondents is apparently a rewrite/remake of a French film and it is worth noting that I've not seen the French version. As a result, this review is based entirely on Special Correspondents as its own work.

Frank is a radio reporter, sitting in a bar, listening to a police scanner when he hears about a crime going down at the nearby York Hotel. Gaining access to the crime scene, he gets enough details to go on the air with a puff piece. That makes his sound engineer, Ian Finch, happy, but dismays his co-worker Claire and pisses off his boss, Jeffrey Mallard. While at a radio event, Claire and Finch are given an assignment, which leaves Finch's wife, Eleanor, in the same room with Frank. Eleanor sleeps with Frank and he leaves afterward. The next morning, Frank is given an assignment in Equador and he wants to take Finch, who has just been left by his wife. The pair head off to the airport, but there they discover that Finch accidentally threw out their plane ticket and credentials instead of the note he was going to give his wife.

The two retreat to a local restaurant where they brainstorm with the Cafe's managers, Brigida and Domingo. Finch comes up with the idea that they can fake the report, so they set up in the room above the restaurant across from the radio station. Finch creates a sound scape to represent Ecuador and they begin making up the story. To that end, they create Emilia Santiago Alvarez as a man behind the coup in Ecuador. The State Department orders Mallard to get Finch and Bonneville to the U.S. embassy in Quito, as major media organizations run with the Alvarez story. When they fail to make it to the embassy, the story becomes how they have been captured. To play into that, they make a ransom film and their hostage story becomes giant news. Eleanor starts to exploit the story for herself and Claire is assigned to tell her story. To rectify the situation, the guys have to actually smuggle themselves into Ecuador to get to the embassy! Inadvertently, they learn the truth about the situation in Ecuador.

Special Correspondents is a comedy where the premise involves an absurd concept with a built-in obvious potential catastrophe. The film moves away from the obvious pressures of "will they get caught or not" to Eleanor exploiting the situation. That keeps Special Correspondents moving forward. The transition between the major plot elements develops very organically.

Ian Finch is characterized well at the outset as a man who has never accomplished anything. Finch dreams of doing something significant, but instead he plays video games and his life is augmented by a collectibles collection he cherishes. Special Correspondents is the story of how he finds himself out of his element and over his head. He is in a loveless marriage and Special Correspondents has him on the unfortunate emotional journey of getting over his broken marriage.

Frank Bonneville is a stereotypical arrogant local celebrity with delusions of grandeur. Frank is recognized on the street and bathes in the adoration of others. He is, however, not dumb and his ability to think quickly on his feet is quickly established. His observation skills make his affair seem pretty scummy, but his ability to talk his way out of the ethical ramifications of knowingly sleeping with another man's wife is a masterful work of characterization.

Special Correspondents takes a delightful twist when Eleanor Finch reveals her true colors. Eleanor exploits the situation and when she does, she is a terrible person. Eleanor is willing to sacrifice her husband and Frank to protect the money she has gotten out of the grieving American people. She is a reprehensible character and Vera Fermiga plays her exceptionally well.

Perhaps the greatest surprise of Special Correspondents is how funny America Ferrera is in it. What starts as a bit role blossoms into one of the most overtly humorous roles she has had.

Ricky Gervais finds the right balance between overt humor and satire in Special Correspondents. Special Correspondents is like Wag The Dog with more overt humor and it is more focused than American Dreamz (reviewed here!). Special Correspondents does a good job of illustrating just how gullible the American people are and how corruptible the media can be.

More than most movies I've seen lately, Special Correspondents knows when to end and the film returns to the characters for the climax in an effective way. As such, Special Correspondents does all it needs to without getting mired in the long-term ramifications of the deception of the three main characters. The movie does what it sets out to do in a solidly entertaining way and it is well worth watching.

For other Netflix exclusive films, please check out my reviews of:
Mascots
ARQ
XOXO
Tallulah
The Fundamentals Of Caring
The Ridiculous 6

7.5/10

For other movie reviews, please check out my Film Review Index Page for an organized listing!

© 2016 W.L. Swarts. May not be reprinted without permission.
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Wrapping Up Extras With The Same As Before: The Extra Special Series Finale Falls Flat.

The Good: Moments of humor
The Bad: Nothing different on the character or acting fronts, No DVD bonus features, Predictable plot.
The Basics: In a disappointing cap to an already repetitive series, the adventures of Andy Millman close with him rejecting the fame and popularity he once sought.


Extras is a television series that premiered on HBO in the United States and was a joint production between the BBC and the cable film/original series channel. I watched and reviewed both seasons of the show and found it to be generally enjoyable, if a bit repetitive. Often, the protagonist - Andy Millman - is acting on a set, lies and/or becomes involved in a lie with his friend Maggie, whose own dimness seems to put her into awkward places, which keeps him from achieving his goals of becoming a world famous actor with lines. When last seen, Millman was working on his fabulously successful but critically panned sitcom "When The Whistle Blows."

So, when I had the opportunity to pick up Extras: The Extra Special Series Finale, a movie designed to cap off the series, I thought I'd check it out. After all, it couldn't be all that bad - especially as it was nominated for several Emmy Awards a few weeks back - and it would finish the show off for me. The problem with The Extra Special Series Finale is that it is nothing new. But that problem is pretty much the death knell of any potential the little film had.

Six months before he ends up on "Celebrity Survivor" in the UK, Andy Millman is stumbling his way through his catch phrase-packed series "When The Whistle Blows." When the producers insist on doing a Christmas episode, shortly after Andy is approached by an ambitious agent who sees his potential, he abruptly ends the series. Free after three seasons of the show, Andy is ecstatic and eager to compete with his old rival, Greg, who is now getting legitimate films opposite Clive Owens.

Soon, though, Andy discovers that the steady gig paid the bills and that the work that seemed beneath him before - like appearing on Doctor Who - might not be so bad. Frustrated, Andy lashes out at everyone left in his life. This includes Maggie, who has begun emulating his sense of having standards to the point of walking off a set when Owens wanted to throw dung at her as part of her role as a medieval prostitute. As a result, Maggie ends up scrubbing toilets and living in a tiny apartment, estranged from even her critical best friend.

Extras: The Extra Special Series Finale is packed with all of the standard Extras jokes. There is a guest star on the set of a production - in this case Clive Owens - who acts like a pompous asst. Andy gets frustrated with Darren, his agent, who does nothing for him or his career. Andy tries to have Maggie lie for him - in this case to an interviewer, who he wants to impress with a bogus call from Ridley Scott and asks Maggie to pretend to be his personal assistant - and this ends up terribly backfiring on him. In other words, this is all of the same humor the viewer has already seen in virtually every episode of Extras. We get it, what else have you got?!

At least as troubling, there is a disconnect between the last episodes of Extras and The Extra Special Series Finale. Andy challenged Darren to get Robert di Nero for a sit down or else he would fire his useless agent. What happened, then, between the last scenes of the series and the opening of this little film is up in the air in a way that is simply sloppy storytelling. I'm not saying that the viewer needed to see the exact results of that meeting, but how Andy continued to do his crappy television series that he hated after having made such a challenge, makes the fans who are most likely to enjoy this film wonder.

This is essentially "A Christmas Carol" recast for Extras, but it makes a bit less sense than that. For example, Andy's character has never been particularly impulsive. So why he fires Darren before confirming that the new agent can get him work of the caliber he is looking for is somewhat mystifying. But the net result of the set-up of the plot is that the viewer has a strong idea of where the movie is going from the first few minutes and as a result, we wait for it to end more than enjoy the attempt at resolution. No, not even that; we're bored by the direction the resolution is likely to take long before it gets there.

Ricky Gervais, who plays Millman returns to the role with a sense of bored readiness. There is no additional spark to the piece and his performance is one that is hard to judge in as much as his character is so miserable he becomes boring and irksome to watch. This, then, is either an incredibly performed bit by Gervais or it indicates a pretty miserable condition for the actor. The reason this is hard to judge is because the acting is consistent with all of the other episodes of the series and as a result, consistency is all he brings to this performance. It is clearly Ricky Gervais as Andy Millman.

Similarly, Ashley Jensen, who appears now on Ugly Betty plays Maggie with a consistent idiocy that viewers expect from the character. There is nothing added to her performance in this that makes the viewer sit up and say "Wow, Jensen is an amazing actress!" Similarly, Stephen Merchant is performing - at best - what we have already seen from him.

On DVD, The Extra Special Series Finale has no bonus features. One wonders why they bother with a menu when all that is offered on the menu is the choice of playing the movie or the subtitles. Outside that, the eighty-four minute movie is devoid of extras and on one hand this is a good thing; I didn't need to rewatch the movie to evaluate the quality of the bonus features!

So, what is the point of The Extra Special Series Finale? I suppose it is to offer a more concrete ending to Extras than was left at the end of the second season of the show. Is it worth it to fans? I don't think so. It's not as funny or edgy and if you've read the plot synopsis, you learn the essential thing that a fan would want to know: Millman escapes his "When The Whistle Blows" hell. Beyond that, it's all redundant and blah.

For other movies that cleared up loose ends from television shows, please check out my reviews of:
Homicide: The Movie
Serenity
Star Trek: Generations

3/10

For other television reviews, be sure to check out my Television Review Index Page for an organized listing!

© 2012, 2008 W.L. Swarts. May not be reprinted without permission.
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In Its Second Season, Extras Dazzled Before It Disappears!

The Good: Funny, Clever, Decent commentary
The Bad: No real character development, Light on DVD bonus features
The Basics: A fun season, more big stars arrive on Extras, which makes its point early and never grows beyond it.


I suppose one of the nice things about watching and reviewing HBO and BBC DVD boxed sets is that they are short. With the crossover between those two giants of original programming, there was the show Extras. A few weeks ago, I took in Extras Season 1 (reviewed here!) and liked it enough to pick up Extras - Season 2 on DVD.

The series takes an interesting turn and it is a strange balancing between being stagnant characters (much like they were in the first season) and an almost entirely different show in terms of plot. The first season of Extras followed Andy and Maggie, two non-speaking background actors in various BBC productions. Each episode had a basic quandary (like Andy trying to get lines by having a victim of war crimes push for them or Maggie trying to date a black man without appearing racist) which put the two extras on set near some famous actors and ultimately they just trundled through their lives.

The second season of Extras is exactly the same for Maggie, but it's completely different for Andy. Andy is now working on his own show, "When The Whistle Blows." Unfortunately for him, it has been co-opted by the BBC producers and made into a lame, catch-phrase-driven sitcom that he loathes to be associated with. And while the reviews of it are terrible, the ratings are phenomenal and Andy finds himself still trundling along unpleasantly.

Because this season is only six episodes and there is no real character development, it is most germane to see what happens in this season. In season two, the episodes are:

"Orlando Bloom" - While rehearsing for the premiere of "When The Whistle Blows," Andy takes a stand against the direction it is headed in, including rejecting the wig and funny glasses the producers insist he wear. He is extorted into continuing the production, though it is very much not what he wants to do. Meanwhile, Maggie works as a juror on a movie with Orlando Bloom only to discover he has a superiority complex and he wants to date her. Her indifference only turns him on more,

"David Bowie" - With the success of "When The Whistle Blows," Andy has his first run-in with geekish fans who essentially demand he perform his catch phrase for them. Trying to avoid fans like that, Andy, Maggie and Andy's agent Darren head out to an exclusive club where they are bumped from the V.I.P. room to let David Bowie in,

"Daniel Radcliffe" - As "When The Whistle Blows" continues to shine in the ratings, the critics pan the pathetic comedy and Andy more or less agrees with them. However, while out at a fancy dinner one night, he objects to a child making noise and asks the waitress to suggest they leave, only to discover that the child has Down's Syndrome. While Andy works to reconcile his public image, Maggie finds herself on set with Daniel Radcliffe and Warwick Davis on a shoot that has Radcliffe desperate to get it on with Maggie,

"Chris Martin" - Against his express wishes, the producers to "When The Whistle Blows" allow the lead singer of Coldplay to come on the show to play a song to promote his album "The Best Of Coldplay." After the critics take Andy to task for this, he is nominated for a BAFTA only to have Darren crash the ceremony with merchandise and Maggie tell an old flame of Andy's how late in life he lost his virginity,

"Sir Ian McKellen" - Eager to escape the bad press of "When The Whistle Blows," Andy has Darren line him up a play to perform in. As it is, he ends up working in a play directed by Sir Ian McKellen, but Andy finds himself remarkably uncomfortable with the play's homosexual themes, especially once an old rival shows up to see him perform,

"?????" - Frustrated at his performance and the direction of "When The Whistle Blows," Andy prepares to fire Darren. Darren makes a desperate deal, which is to arrange a meeting between Andy and Robert De Niro. While Andy and Maggie are caught up with visiting a sick child in the hospital, Darren struggles to keep his job as Andy's agent.

Extras is fairly funny in its second season, though much the way it was in the first. Andy is roped into various situations because he does not have the heart or spine to stand up for himself. Similarly, the average joke pertaining to Maggie has to do with her being an absolute dimwit. As a result, she will usually say something she shouldn't, the person she is speaking with will react in a shocked manner, she will realize she has said something wrong and she simply responds with a blank stare and a "hmm?"

This is amusing the first time around, but I have serious doubts about how it holds up over multiple viewings. Indeed, it is often not the main cast who is given the chance to be the funniest. So, for example, in this two-disc boxed set, the funniest bits come from Sir Ian McKellen. When Andy arrives at his audition, McKellen takes several moments to describe to him what acting is and it is utterly hilarious.

But largely, the series goes nowhere in the second season. It begins with Andy deeply distressed over the lousy quality of "When The Whistle Blows" and it ends with him in the exact same predicament. Maggie and Darren, similarly, do not grow or change (though they do have a date).

The acting by Ricky Gervais and Ashley Jensen is consistent and believable. Both have amazing comic timing with Gervais able to deadpan brilliantly and Jensen takes on a completely simple demeanor that makes her character hilarious to watch.

On DVD, there are deleted scenes for each episode and a few featurettes. These are about what one would expect from a comedy and the behind-the-scenes elements are interesting. Particularly annoying is the menu on the second disc which has the opening jingle to "When The Whistle Blows" repeated over and over again.

This is a good way to kill an afternoon and it is enjoyable, but it is hard to believe it is essential for anyone's permanent collection.

For other works with Stephen Merchant, be sure to visit my reviews of:
Hall Pass
The Tooth Fairy
The Invention Of Lying
Run, Fatboy, Run

7/10

For other television reviews, be sure to check out my Television Review Index Page for an organized listing.

© 2012, 2008 W.L. Swarts. May not be reprinted without permission.
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Of All The Ideas To Get A Sequel...Night At The Museum Makes Me Wonder "Why?!"

The Good: Moments of humor, Decent DVD bonus features
The Bad: Entirely predictable, Premise never develops beyond itself.
The Basics: Predictable and underwhelming, Night At The Museum does not live up to its hype as even an interesting film.


Note: This review was originally written in advance of the sequel’s release. To date, I have not seen the sequel. Enjoy!

Some weeks ago, my wife was in our bedroom laughing constantly as I wrote my daily reviews and I poked my head in to see why. She was watching Night At The Museum and she seemed to be enjoying it. As I prepared for Summer Blockbuster Season, I figured that I would end up seeing the sequel - Night At The Museum: Battle Of The Smithsonian - but through today, I have not. Still, I figured it was worth catching the original, in case I do manage to get out to see the sequel. Despite my wife and I having a lot of differences in taste, I cannot recall the last time I enjoyed a film so much less than she did than after watching Night At The Museum. Moreover, I find myself baffled as to why this film garnered a sequel when it was so generally weak itself.

Night At The Museum is one of those films where the concept is pretty much all there is to the flick. When one knows that the movie is about a night security guard at a museum where all of the inanimate models of people and animals come to life at night, they have pretty much seen the film. Over the course of three nights, night watchman Larry Daley assumes his position at the Museum Of Natural History in New York City where a pharaoh's enchanted tablet animates all of the displays at night. They get up, walk around, talk and torment one another and Larry. Outside a few moments, the movie was nowhere near as funny as I suspected it would be - from my partner's laughter - and on the merits, it is certainly below average.

Larry Daley is recently-divorced and floundering financially in life even as he sees his ex's new boyfriend getting closer to his son, Nick. Determined to not be forced further away from his son by poor job conditions, Larry takes a job at the Museum Of Natural History as the new nightwatchman, replacing Cecil, Gus and Reginald. There he is given specific instructions to maintain order at night and he arrives for his first night not understanding the urgency with which Cecil warns him to not allow anything in or out of the museum at night. When the Tyrannosaurus Rex skeleton in the lobby comes alive, Larry freaks out and begins to stick to the list Cecil left him with, despite failing to keep some of the vital conditions straight.

After a day of research, Larry returns to the Museum where he is more prepared to deal with the animals, Atilla the Hun, miniature cowboys and Romans, and a love-struck Teddy Roosevelt. But the power that allows the displays to animate throughout the museum is coveted by those who used to have Larry's job and Larry must marshal the disparate forces in the museum to save the artifacts and earn his son's love and respect.

On the plus side, Night At The Museum does not insult the viewer's intelligence excessively by drawing out the source of the mysterious happenings. In one of the first moments, the former pharaoh's enchanted plaque is introduced and it is quickly revealed to be the source of all of the animated display pieces. As well, Night At The Museum is cute and has a few moments of humor. Unfortunately, of the three big moments of cuteness or humor, the movie gets two of them out of the way quickly. Larry slapping the monkey and the Tyrannosaurus Rex skeleton essentially being a cute pet-like creature are established with haste. Outside those two moments, I only recall with any ease one moment that I actually laughed at and that was near the climax of the film. As a result, this is a lot slower than it is funny.

As well, Night At The Museum quickly establishes its premise, but then does little or nothing of real note with it. Everything comes alive at the museum at night . . . all right, once Larry figures out how to deal with the animals and multicultural display pieces, the movie is pretty much over. Thus, writers Robert Ben Garant and Thomas Lennon are forced to create a rather obvious series of conflicts that are hardly engaging enough to keep the viewer interested. The immediate humor of the situation wears out because no matter who Larry encounters, the jokes are essentially either "maquette becomes animated" or interethnic misunderstanding humor.

The real problem with Night At The Museum comes for anyone who has ever been to the American Museum Of Natural History (reviewed here!). Realism takes a back seat to fantasy from the outset in the fact that almost every display is behind glass at the actual Museum. In other words, outside the dinosaur, Teddy Roosevelt and one or two animals, everything in the Museum would be safely contained, just as the pharaoh in the film is. Moreover, places like the Hall Of Ocean would be loud with the sound of water-based animals dying of suffocation every night when they came alive!

The character and plot arcs are stiflingly predictable as well. On the third night, Larry tries to impress the tourguide, Rebecca, and his son by showing the museum pieces coming to life, so the most predictable reversal - the creatures not animating - is exactly where the film goes. Because there is the conflict between Larry and his ex-wife and a distance from his son Nick, the attempt to bond with Nick is met with plot-convenient reversals that lead Nick to be disappointed in his father only to miraculously have that reversed when Nick rises to the occasion.

This is all stuffed together with a somewhat pointless subplot where the Teddy Roosevelt mannequin has a longing for the Sacajawea mannequin. Larry also has a clear desire to impress Rebecca, but fortunately that subplot is not resolved with the predictable potential kiss that would have been even more obvious than where this movie goes. Given that surprise is a key element to comedy, the lack of surprise in the film once one knows the premise guts the film's rewatchability. Even my partner - who was excited about seeing the movie again because we had been to the Museum Of Natural History - laughed less the second time than she did the first time through.

As for the acting, it is hard to deny that Night At The Museum has a pretty excellent cast. Carla Gugino continues her trend of family-friendly flicks in her bit role as Rebecca and Jake Cherry does an adequate job playing Nick. Dick Van Dyke, Mickey Rooney, and Bill Cobbs have wonderful supporting roles as the three nightwatchmen who are prematurely retired and Van Dyke especially rises to the occasion with a decent sense of comic timing. Conversely Ricky Gervais is uncharacteristically stiff as the museum's director, Dr. McPhee. Robin Williams upstages Ben Stiller in every scene they share. Mizuo Peck has great chemistry with Williams when she is finally given a speaking part and they share scenes.

Much of the movie hinges on the performance of Ben Stiller and he is good as Larry. In the role, he is required to run fast, bug out his eyes and act as if he is in danger from obviously virtual characters he is sharing the screen with. He does all of that well and director Shawn Levy seems to have a decent sense of how to use Stiller's sense of physical performance to sell the reality of the situation.

Still, it is not enough to let me recommend the movie; the film is slow and predictable with special effects that are not realistic in far too many places. At least it makes my decision of whether or not I ought to catch the sequel an easy one.

For other films featuring Ben Stiller, be sure to visit my reviews of:
Tower Heist
Megamind
Envy
The Royal Tenenbaums
Zoolander
Keeping The Faith

5/10

For other film reviews, please check out my Movie Review Index Page for an organized listing!

© 2012, 2009 W.L. Swarts. May not be reprinted without permission.
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HBO Does The BBC With Extras: The Complete First Season!

The Good: Funny, Well-acted
The Bad: No real character development, Short
The Basics: Mostly funny, but so short and lacking in real decent DVD bonus features, Extras - The Complete First Season is a fun pick.


I have been watching quite a few works from the BBC lately. So, when I took a break from BBC productions to watch a DVD set from HBO, I was rather surprised to find a British comedy! The series is Extras and I picked up the Complete First Season inexpensively enough on DVD to give it a shake. I suppose I ought not to be as surprised as I was: HBO developed Sacha Baron Cohen's Da Ali G Show (reviewed here!) from the original BBC production. But I was surprised by how BBC Extras was.

Instead of taking graphic risks like HBO is generally known for, Extras presents a rather dry British sense of irony and quiet humor. There is no laugh track (yea!), the jokes are not telegraphed and a great deal of the humor is based on putting characters into terribly uncomfortable situations, like discussions about racism or sex talk.

That said, it's a funny little series and on DVD, Extras - The Complete First Season is a pretty solid afternoon of entertainment. Sadly, this DVD boxed set is comprised of only six episodes and as a result, it is easy to go through it very fast. The series focuses on Andy Millman and his friend Maggie, who work as extras on various films. While working in the background, they struggle for lines so they can move up and potentially become stars some day.

Andy is ambitious and is represented by a lazy agent who never seems to look into getting him work. Still, Andy treats Darren well, even paying him for work he does not do. As Andy is ambitious and trying to get his own series made, Maggie is dimwitted and stumbles into situations where her ignorance or outright stupidity land her further from getting decent work. Often enough, Maggie finds herself in an uncomfortable situation and Andy does what he can to try to extricate her from it, usually making things worse for himself.

Each episode is defined by the famous guest star who shows up and interacts with Andy and/or Maggie on the set of the shoot they are working on. The first season is comprised of the episodes:

"Kate Winslet" - Wherein Andy finds himself in a position where he is attracted to a woman playing a nun, whose sister has cerebral palsy. A devout atheist, Andy listens to the sister talk about god's majesty and finds himself lying about his faith to impress the woman he is interested in, resulting in a terrible date . . . at a church reception! Kate Winslet tries to teach Maggie how to perform phone sex,

"Ben Stiller" - Wherein Andy uses a survivor of genocidal acts to try to get a line in a movie that Ben Stiller is directing,

"Ross Kemp" - Andy sits down next to actor Ross Kemp, who brags about how buff he is, which leads to a rivalry between the stars of two sets when Andy mentions it to his professional rival on a nearby set,

"Les Dennis" - Andy gets work in a play as a genie who makes gay jokes, working alongside the morbid and self-destructive comedian Les Dennis. While Andy tries to keep the star of the play from a complete emotional breakdown, Maggie befriends the daughter of the director to Andy's show. The director, who is almost a parody of gay, has an unusually close and professionally demanding relationship with his daughter and Maggie puts her foot in it by mentioning this to her,

"Samuel L. Jackson" - Maggie has the hots for a black actor working on the project she and Andy are currently on, but he walks in on her consistently making remarks that make her sound like she is a racist. Even as she tries to win a proper date with him, it becomes clear that his skin color is an issue, though not through any sense of racial hatred (just ignorance) on her part. While Maggie tries to get closer to the actor, Andy tries to extricate himself from a clingy police officer who wants him to spend time with him off set,

"Patrick Stewart" - Tired of Darren's lack of ambition on his part, Andy takes a script he has written and presents it to Patrick Stewart, the star of his current project. Darren and Andy are astonished when this actually works and Andy's series is put into active development at the BBC. Unfortunately for Andy, he is paired with a script doctor who is gay in the campiest possible ways and he mentions this to Maggie, who tries to get the BBC-mandated writer to tone it down.

The series is a series of real extremes. In "Samuel L. Jackson," the climactic scene is hilarious for the uncomfortable way Maggie and Andy try to convince Jackson and his costar that Maggie is not a racist (seriously, I'm chuckling thinking about it and writing those lines). It is laugh out loud funny. And as a HUGE fan of the Star Trek franchise and geek culture, it's delightful to watch Patrick Stewart sit in baffled silence when he realizes there is an unmarried, single male who does NOT watch Star Trek! Seriously, hilarious beyond belief.

But for the life of me, I don't think I laughed during any of "Ross Kemp." It just was a whole miss of an episode. And the Ben Stiller schtick, where he is the most arrogant jerk in the world works well in the beginning of that episode, but goes to an obvious hyperbole by the end.

My only experience with star Ricky Gervais prior to watching him on these two discs was with his guest starring role in the third season of Alias. There he played a terrorist and the role was dark and disturbing, so his sense of comic timing went utterly unused. He seems to be a good actor in that he plays Andy as a very simple, direct guy who is not funny - though Gervais clearly has that talent down. Indeed, Gervais's Andy Millman might well be the best example of a character who is not at all funny, but is funny to watch.

Similarly, one must assume that Ashley Jensen, who plays Maggie, is a great actress. If Jensen were as dimwitted as Maggie is portrayed as the episodes would never get done because she would never be able to get through the lines they give her. Even with cue cards.

On DVD, the two-disc set features deleted scenes for each episode as well as a featurette on the making of the show. As well, there is a small collection of outtakes on a gag reel. This is not a great set for those who are looking for great DVD bonus features.

Despite the references to BBC productions like Eastenders, Extras is very accessible to American audiences. It is funny, clever and well-acted, when it is not dull and . . . well, British.

For other works featuring Ricky Gervais, please be sure to visit my review of:
The Invention Of Lying


5.5/10

For other television reviews, please visit my Movie Review Index Page for an organized listing!

© 2012, 2008 W.L. Swarts. May not be reprinted without permission.
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If One Must Have Extras, THIS Is The Boxed Set To Buy!

The Good: All of Extras in one place
The Bad: VERY repetitive
The Basics: The best possible way to get all of Extras in one place, this gift set still fails to close the deal on a remarkably mediocre series.


There are multipacks and there are multipacks. For the television series Extras, there is a very simple multipack which is the first two seasons cellophaned together. Then there is the Extras Giftset, which is what this listing is for. The difference? The Giftset includes The Extra Special Series Finale and new packaging which takes up less space than the other three separate sets, when placed sideways on a shelf (i.e. with the spine showing).

The thing is, Extras is funny, for about one pass. But its humor episode to episode is so similar that watching the entire series like this (which takes well less than a day) that is soon wears thin. And by the time one gets to the "series finale" (note: Gevais is already talking about trying another episode/movie for Extras if he can get Al Pacino on board!) the humor is so "done" that it's hard to muster up the interest in watching the whole thing a second or third time. In other words, it's hard to recommend for one's permanent collection, but this boxed set has the virtue of being the entire series (as it currently stands) which lends some extra value to it.

As far as content goes, this repackage has the same discs that comprised: Extras Season 1, Extras Season 2 and Extras: The Extra Special Series Finale. There are no additional bonus features or discs in this package, though it does seem to be less expensive than buying the three previously released sets separately.

Extras - The Complete First Season is a pretty solid afternoon of entertainment. Sadly, that first DVD boxed set is comprised of only six episodes and as a result, it is easy to go through it very fast. The series focuses on Andy Millman and his friend Maggie, who work as extras on various films. While working in the background, they struggle for lines so they can move up and potentially become stars some day.

Andy is ambitious and is represented by a lazy agent who never seems to look into getting him work. Still, Andy treats Darren well, even paying him for work he does not do. As Andy is ambitious and trying to get his own series made, Maggie is dimwitted and stumbles into situations where her ignorance or outright stupidity land her further from getting decent work. Often enough, Maggie finds herself in an uncomfortable situation and Andy does what he can to try to extricate her from it, usually making things worse for himself.

Each episode is defined by the famous guest star who shows up and interacts with Andy and/or Maggie on the set of the shoot they are working on. The first season is comprised of the episodes:

"Kate Winslet" - Wherein Andy finds himself in a position where he is attracted to a woman playing a nun, whose sister has cerebral palsy. A devout atheist, Andy listens to the sister talk about god's majesty and finds himself lying about his faith to impress the woman he is interested in, resulting in a terrible date . . . at a church reception! Kate Winslet tries to teach Maggie how to perform phone sex,

"Ben Stiller" - Wherein Andy uses a survivor of genocidal acts to try to get a line in a movie that Ben Stiller is directing,

"Ross Kemp" - Andy sits down next to actor Ross Kemp, who brags about how buff he is, which leads to a rivalry between the stars of two sets when Andy mentions it to his professional rival on a nearby set,

"Les Dennis" - Andy gets work in a play as a genie who makes gay jokes, working alongside the morbid and self-destructive comedian Les Dennis. While Andy tries to keep the star of the play from a complete emotional breakdown, Maggie befriends the daughter of the director to Andy's show. The director, who is almost a parody of gay, has an unusually close and professionally demanding relationship with his daughter and Maggie puts her foot in it by mentioning this to her,

"Samuel L. Jackson" - Maggie has the hots for a black actor working on the project she and Andy are currently on, but he walks in on her consistently making remarks that make her sound like she is a racist. Even as she tries to win a proper date with him, it becomes clear that his skin color is an issue, though not through any sense of racial hatred (just ignorance) on her part. While Maggie tries to get closer to the actor, Andy tries to extricate himself from a clingy police officer who wants him to spend time with him off set,

"Patrick Stewart" - Tired of Darren's lack of ambition on his part, Andy takes a script he has written and presents it to Patrick Stewart, the star of his current project. Darren and Andy are astonished when this actually works and Andy's series is put into active development at the BBC. Unfortunately for Andy, he is paired with a script doctor who is gay in the campiest possible ways and he mentions this to Maggie, who tries to get the BBC-mandated writer to tone it down.

The series is a series of real extremes. In "Samuel L. Jackson," the climactic scene is hilarious for the uncomfortable way Maggie and Andy try to convince Jackson and his costar that Maggie is not a racist (seriously, I'm chuckling thinking about it and writing those lines). It is laugh out loud funny. And as a HUGE fan of the Star Trek franchise and geek culture, it's delightful to watch Patrick Stewart sit in baffled silence when he realizes there is an unmarried, single male who does NOT watch Star Trek! Seriously, hilarious beyond belief.

But for the life of me, I don't think I laughed during any of "Ross Kemp." It just was a whole miss of an episode. And the Ben Stiller schtick, where he is the most arrogant jerk in the world works well in the beginning of that episode, but goes to an obvious hyperbole by the end.

The second season of Extras is exactly the same for Maggie, but it's completely different for Andy. Andy is now working on his own show, "When The Whistle Blows." Unfortunately for him, it has been co-opted by the BBC producers and made into a lame, catch-phrase-driven sitcom that he loathes to be associated with. And while the reviews of it are terrible, the ratings are phenomenal and Andy finds himself still trundling along unpleasantly.

Because this season is only six episodes and there is no real character development, it is most germane to see what happens in this season. In season two, the episodes are:

"Orlando Bloom" - While rehearsing for the premiere of "When The Whistle Blows," Andy takes a stand against the direction it is headed in, including rejecting the wig and funny glasses the producers insist he wear. He is extorted into continuing the production, though it is very much not what he wants to do. Meanwhile, Maggie works as a juror on a movie with Orlando Bloom only to discover he has a superiority complex and he wants to date her. Her indifference only turns him on more,

"David Bowie" - With the success of "When The Whistle Blows," Andy has his first run-in with geekish fans who essentially demand he perform his catch phrase for them. Trying to avoid fans like that, Andy, Maggie and Andy's agent Darren head out to an exclusive club where they are bumped from the V.I.P. room to let David Bowie in,

"Daniel Radcliffe" - As "When The Whistle Blows" continues to shine in the ratings, the critics pan the pathetic comedy and Andy more or less agrees with them. However, while out at a fancy dinner one night, he objects to a child making noise and asks the waitress to suggest they leave, only to discover that the child has Down's Syndrome. While Andy works to reconcile his public image, Maggie finds herself on set with Daniel Radcliffe and Warwick Davis on a shoot that has Radcliffe desperate to get it on with Maggie,

"Chris Martin" - Against his express wishes, the producers to "When The Whistle Blows" allow the lead singer of Coldplay to come on the show to play a song to promote his album "The Best Of Coldplay." After the critics take Andy to task for this, he is nominated for a BAFTA only to have Darren crash the ceremony with merchandise and Maggie tell an old flame of Andy's how late in life he lost his virginity,

"Sir Ian McKellen" - Eager to escape the bad press of "When The Whistle Blows," Andy has Darren line him up a play to perform in. As it is, he ends up working in a play directed by Sir Ian McKellen, but Andy finds himself remarkably uncomfortable with the play's homosexual themes, especially once an old rival shows up to see him perform,

"?????" - Frustrated at his performance and the direction of "When The Whistle Blows," Andy prepares to fire Darren. Darren makes a desperate deal, which is to arrange a meeting between Andy and Robert De Niro. While Andy and Maggie are caught up with visiting a sick child in the hospital, Darren struggles to keep his job as Andy's agent.

Extras is fairly funny in its second season, though much the way it was in the first. Andy is roped into various situations because he does not have the heart or spine to stand up for himself. Similarly, the average joke pertaining to Maggie has to do with her being an absolute dimwit. As a result, she will usually say something she shouldn't, the person she is speaking with will react in a shocked manner, she will realize she has said something wrong and she simply responds with a blank stare and a "hmm?"

This is amusing the first time around, but I have serious doubts about how it holds up over multiple viewings. Indeed, it is often not the main cast who is given the chance to be the funniest. So, for example, in this two-disc boxed set, the funniest bits come from Sir Ian McKellen. When Andy arrives at his audition, McKellen takes several moments to describe to him what acting is and it is utterly hilarious.

But largely, the series goes nowhere in the second season. It begins with Andy deeply distressed over the lousy quality of "When The Whistle Blows" and it ends with him in the exact same predicament. Maggie and Darren, similarly, do not grow or change (though they do have a date).

In Extras: The Extra Special Series Finale, we find Andy Millman axing his own show. Six months before he ends up on "Celebrity Survivor" in the UK, Andy Millman is stumbling his way through his catch phrase-packed series "When The Whistle Blows." When the producers insist on doing a Christmas episode, shortly after Andy is approached by an ambitious agent who sees his potential, he abruptly ends the series. Free after three seasons of the show, Andy is ecstatic and eager to compete with his old rival, Greg, who is now getting legitimate films opposite Clive Owens.

Soon, though, Andy discovers that the steady gig paid the bills and that the work that seemed beneath him before - like appearing on "Doctor Who" - might not be so bad. Frustrated, Andy lashes out at everyone left in his life. This includes Maggie, who has begun emulating his sense of having standards to the point of walking off a set when Owens wanted to throw dung at her as part of her role as a medieval prostitute. As a result, Maggie ends up scrubbing toilets and living in a tiny apartment, estranged from even her critical best friend.

Extras: The Extra Special Series Finale is packed with all of the standard Extras jokes. There is a guest star on the set of a production - in this case Clive Owens - who acts like a pompous asst. Andy gets frustrated with Darren, his agent, who does nothing for him or his career. Andy tries to have Maggie lie for him - in this case to an interviewer, who he wants to impress with a bogus call from Ridley Scott and asks Maggie to pretend to be his personal assistant - and this ends up terribly backfiring on him. In other words, this is all of the same humor the viewer has already seen in virtually every episode of Extras. We get it, what else have you got?!

At least as troubling, there is a disconnect between the last episodes of Extras and The Extra Special Series Finale. Andy challenged Darren to get Robert di Nero for a sit down or else he would fire his useless agent. What happened, then, between the last scenes of the series and the opening of this little film is up in the air in a way that is simply sloppy storytelling. I'm not saying that the viewer needed to see the exact results of that meeting, but how Andy continued to do his crappy television series that he hated after having made such a challenge, makes the fans who are most likely to enjoy this film wonder.

This is essentially A Christmas Carol recast for Extras, but it makes a bit less sense than that. For example, Andy's character has never been particularly impulsive. So why he fires Darren before confirming that the new agent can get him work of the caliber he is looking for is somewhat mystifying. But the net result of the set-up of the plot is that the viewer has a strong idea of where the movie is going from the first few minutes and as a result, we wait for it to end more than enjoy the attempt at resolution. No, not even that; we're bored by the direction the resolution is likely to take long before it gets there.

My only experience with star Ricky Gervais prior to watching him on this series was with his guest starring role in the third season of Alias. There he played a terrorist and the role was dark and disturbing, so his sense of comic timing went utterly unused. He seems to be a good actor in that he plays Andy as a very simple, direct guy who is not funny - though Gervais clearly has that talent down. Indeed, Gervais's Andy Millman might well be the best example of a character who is not at all funny, but is funny to watch.

Similarly, one must assume that Ashley Jensen, who plays Maggie, is a great actress. If Jensen were as dimwitted as Maggie is portrayed as the episodes would never get done because she would never be able to get through the lines they give her. Even with cue cards.

On DVD, the sets feature deleted scenes for each episode as well as a featurette on the making of the show. As well, there is a small collection of outtakes on a gag reel. This is not a great set for those who are looking for great DVD bonus features.

Ultimately, I took the final "recommend" question literally and because I have not been recommending Extras to friends, I opted not to recommend it here. The truth is, it's too repetitive to endure. But for those who must have this series, you might as well get the whole thing and cheaper.

For other works on HBO, please be sure to check out my reviews of:
Carnivale
True Blood - Season Four
Rome
Six Feet Under
Da Ali G Show

5/10

For other television reviews, please visit my Television Review Index Page for a comprehensive listing of all the television reviews I have written.

© 2012, 2008 W.L. Swarts. May not be reprinted without permission.
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The Invention Of Lying Is A Surprisingly Smart, Somewhat Erratic, Comedy.

The Good: Starts very funny, Decent acting, Moments of character, Good DVD bonus features
The Bad: Very predictable plot arc, Dramatic change in tone midway through the film.
The Basics: The Invention Of Lying starts as a clever concept comedy, but quickly becomes a very serious, substantive film that leaves little to surprise the audience.


A few months ago, my wife and I had a free hotel stay we were enjoying when we caught the middle and end of The Invention Of Lying. My wife loves comedies and it was nice to see her laugh so much, so we kept watching it. As the movie went on, though, she began to frown and by the end, she was saying what has become a mantra around our house, “I hate it when a movie starts out funny and then gets so serious!” It is probably for that reason that it took until last night for us to get back to The Invention Of Lying. Even so, we started it eagerly, recalling that when we began the movie, it was quite funny.

And that is how The Invention Of Lying goes. It starts out exceptionally funny, has a deliriously satirical twist in the middle and then fails to sustain itself. Instead, the movie collapses into a very serious statement on the nature of reality and the larger consequences that come from living a dishonest existence. The premise of the movie is simple and is deeply related to the setting. The setting is Earth in contemporary times, but on this Earth, everyone always tells the truth. It is a world where absolute honesty exists and the idea of deceit is unfathomable to the people there.

Mark is a writer for the leading movie studio of the day. He is terribly unsuccessful and living in the shadows of Brad Kessler. Mark goes on a date with Anna, who is very much out of his league and who seems amused with him despite not being attracted to him. The next day begins with his arrival at work where his boss, Anthony, finally gets up the will to fire Mark and, dejected, Mark returns to his apartment to a landlord who wants to evict him. He goes to the bank, needing eight hundred dollars, but knowing he only has three hundred in his account. When the teller asks him how much he wants to withdraw, he commits the world’s first lie by saying “eight hundred.” The computers come back up and the teller gives him the eight hundred, despite the computer saying he has three hundred because she assumes there has been a computer error, whatwith the world’s lack of deceit.

From there, Mark realizes the power he has and he begins to lie to make changes to the lives of people around him, from a suicidal tenant living in his apartment to a random man on the street to the police. But after making himself rich and writing the first fiction screenplay, he visits his mother, who is dying in the nursing home and, in comforting her, he inadvertently creates god. This gives Mark an extraordinary amount of power, though he cannot win Anna’s heart. As Anna moves to marry Brad, Mark tries to repair the damage his lies have made to the entire world.

The Invention Of Lying is erratic, but starts very funny. The jokes may all be very similar – people saying simple, complete truths that are outrageously funny – but they work and they establish a world that is funny and occasionally brutal to watch. But with the invention of the man who watches over all things, Mark becomes a huge public figure and his lie changes the tenor of the movie. For sure, the idea that god is just a lie is a brilliant bit of satire and Ricky Gervais as Mark delivers that expertly, but the fallout from that lie makes the movie into a very serious thing.

Beyond that, The Invention Of Lying becomes painfully formulaic in its last half. While the beginning had so much potential, the latter half becomes the predictable romantic comedy in terms of plot structure as Mark realizes how important Anna is to him. The process of watching Anna fall for Mark is far less organic. The attraction there becomes he exact formula that has existed since Jane Eyre (reviewed here!) was first written.

Because so much of The Invention Of Lying hinges on the concept as opposed to the characters, the character development in the film is remarkably low. That is not to say that the characters are not interesting to watch (they are), but they lack a lot in the way of distinction as they service the “must be honest” concept more than create viable individuals on screen.

By contrast, The Invention Of Lying features amazing acting and a cast that is to die for. Jennifer Garner may have been brought in for the sex appeal and star power, but in The Invention Of Lying, she proves just how funny she can be. Jonah Hill, Jeffrey Tambor, Fionnula Flanagan, Tina Fey and Martin Star all have memorable supporting performances. In fact, part of the real surprise in The Invention Of Lying is that Rob Lowe’s role is one of his less memorable ones.

It is Ricky Gervais, however who rules The Invention Of Lying and he is amazing as Mark. His comic timing has never been better and his deliveries are spot on. He makes even the dreadful second half at least seem like it is the same movie.

On DVD, The Invention Of Lying comes loaded with bonus features, most of which take the form of deleted scenes and featurettes. The featurettes are very funny and focus a lot on the actors playing with their innate sense of comic timing, which is very entertaining.

In the end, though, The Invention Of Lying is a much harder sell than those who love comedy are likely to want. It is worth watching, but very hard to want to add to one’s permanent collection.

For other works with Jonah Hill please visit my reviews of:
Moneyball
Megamind
How To Train Your Dragon
Cyrus
Forgetting Sarah Marshall

6.5/10

For other movie reviews, please visit my index page by clicking here!

© 2011 W.L. Swarts. May not be reprinted without permission.
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