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| Special Correspondents - Couldn't wait for it to end. |
Watch Special Correspondents
Written by: Ricky Gervais
Directed by: Ricky Gervais
Starring: Vera Farmiga, Eric Bana, America Ferrera, Kelly Macdonald, Ricky Gervais, Benjamin Bratt
Rated: TV-MA
Plot:
In this Netflix distributed movie, Frank Bonneville and Ian Finch (Eric Bana and Ricky Gervais) fake covering a war in Ecuador and eventually a kidnapping while remaining state side.
Verdict:
It felt incredibly long despite that fact that it's just over ninety minutes. It's one of those movies that if you didn't quit watching after the first half hour, you're just counting down the minutes so that you can write a complete review. It's a mediocre, trope filled movie, with a conclusion that is as pointless as it is ridiculous
Skip it.
Review:
This is a remake of a French film by the same name. This follows in the steps of the French film as neither have been reviewed favorably.
The movie starts with Bonneville using a toy badge to gain access to a crime as he's a radio reporter. I don't understand how he wasn't arrested for impersonating an officer. Many tropes are introduced just minutes in. The reporter who sneaks into the crime scene, the cop who is annoyed by the pesky reporter, the female sidekick, an office that applauds the main character because he's so great, and a boss that will fire him over one more screw up.
Farmiga plays Finch's (Gervais) wife, because of course she does. Gervais wrote this. The wife is tired of Finch and flirts with Bonneville. It's an incredibly contrived plot. Finch looks up to Bonneville and Bonneville is a bitter big fish in a small pond. It's the typical unlikely pairing. If you think you can predict the end, you'll probably be close.
Finch being the bumbling idiot he is gets them into this mess when he accidentally throws away their passports and tickets. They were supposed to cover the Ecuadorian war, but determine that faking it while staying in America can totally work. It's dumb. Not funny, just dumb. Finch's audio mix isn't even that good.
They might could have made turned this into something, but it didn't happen. News has become a joke. One superficial story runs all day. Station offer multiple viewpoints on that one story instead of researching topics that matter. Stations recycle stories and slant everything to their own agenda, instead of chasing a real story. This movie could have attempted to tackle those topics, but instead avoids anything that could be a theme or having meaning. This movie squandered all potential mercilessly.
The unlikely duo create a rebel leader that a rival news station runs with, making up even more facts, but this movie doesn't go further than that.
Finch's wife leverages the kidnapping to raise funds, not for her husband, but for herself. I don't know what it is about Vera Farmiga, but I never find her believable. She's always so wooden. You can see exactly where the movie is taking the plot involving Finch's wife.
As short as this is, it feels very long. The ending is unexpected just because of how absurd it is. It turns into a Gervais action vehicle. Did he run out of ideas for a good ending It's an incredibly trite conclusion.
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