Reports have surfaced that there will now be a standalone film sequel to the UK version of The Office. The movie will show Ricky Gervais’s character fifteen years after he’s left Slough, and will be a sort of “where are they now?”
While I’m sure Mr. Gervais can wring some humour out of more David Brent, the question is do we want to see it? For my money, this ending was pitch-perfect:
Seth Meyers had Ricky Gervais on his show recently, and even complimented him on ending “The Office” perfectly. So why go back to the well, other than a cash grab? Is there really more story to tell?
Parenthetically, I found the American version to be lacking in quality as soon as Jim and Pam got together. Three seasons of build-up led to a fantastic moment:
But the last few seasons had diminishing returns, in part because the tension between Jim and Pam was gone…until they shoe-horned in unnecessary drama for the last season.
So, now what? Will we see Tim and Dawn having issues? Will Gareth be a featured player? Or will this sequel be 90 minutes of David Brent? None of these sound particularly intriguing to me (Ed. Note: Yes, I know he has revived the David Brent character before. Short, Youtube-only videos don’t seem to be the same thing as a full-blown movie, or even another TV special, at least in my opinion). This may warrant a longer post down the road, but I wish I could call a moratorium on sequels, at least for a little while. While some sequels can outdo the original (Empire Strikes Back, Godfather Part II, X-2 – gosh, who ever puts those three movies together in a sentence?), they are exceptions proving the rule.
Of course, the irony of all of this is that David Brent never, ever, ever knew when to leave well enough alone. I loved the UK version’s awkward and cringe-worthy humor. I just don’t want to be cringing in a movie theater, wishing they had followed the advice of some other famous Brits and simply let it be.
The PSA 