Ricky Gervais Movies
Born in Reading, England, Ricky Gervais worked in the music industry as a radio DJ, band manager, and music supervisor before getting into comedy. As a writer, he provided scripts for the U.K. television series Bruiser and The Sketch Show. As an actor, he was seen quite a bit on The 11 O'Clock Show and provided the voice of the Penguin in the animated show Robbie the Reindeer: Legend of the Lost Tribe. In 2000, he had his own show called Meet Ricky Gervais. On the big screen, Gervais appeared as the bouncer in the U.K. comedy Dog Eat Dog. He's most known, however, as the writer/director/star of the hit BBC comedy series The Office. He plays David Brent, regional manager of the Wernham Hogg paper company in the London industrial suburb of Slough. A brilliant observation of the contemporary workplace, the show has won a variety of awards over in Britain. Gervais received a Golden Globe nomination for Best Actor in a Comedy Series in 2003. Projects for 2004 include voice work on the animated film Valiant and producing an Americanized version of The Office with director Greg Daniels. He created and starred in Extras, another bitingly funny TV series, this one about a struggling actor. In 2008 he had a leading role for the first time in an American film, the supernatural comedy Ghost Town. The next year he wrote, directed, and starred in the acerbic comedy The Invention of Lying. He earned a ton of buzz in 2010 for his prickly hosting of the Golden Globes, a job he would repeat the next two years as well. In 2011 he debuted a new show he created with actor Warwick Davis, Life's Too Short. ~ Andrea LeVasseur, Rovi
The American TV version of the award-winning British sitcom The Office opens by establishing its faux documentary format, as Michael Scott (Steve Carell), regional manager of a branch office of Dunder-Mifflin Paper, jumps through hoops to convince the filmmakers that he presides over a happy, well-running ship. This is but one of Michael's many pathetic self-delusions: he also thinks he's the epitome of "cool," he's convinced that everything he says is a laugh riot, and even worse, he actually labors under the misapprehension that he is qualified for his job. Meanwhile, Dunder Mifflin's employees inadvertently but efficiently put the lie to Michael's self-serving prevarications: sales rep Jim Halpert (John Krasinski) continually cooks up methods to undermine his hated cube-mate, the obnoxious know-it-all Dwight Schrute (Rainn Wilson); receptionist Pam Beesly (Jenna Fischer) continually deals with Michael's insensitivities and flubs; and office temp Ryan Howard (B.J. Novak) acts mostly as an observer of the insanity around him. Some of the episodes in The Office's six-episode trial run carried over general plot ideas from the earlier British series, particularly the threat of wholesale downsizing that weaves through the various plots and subplots; however, only the pilot was a direct adaptation of one of the U.K. version's episodes. ~ Rovi
- Starring:
- Steve Carell, John Krasinski, (more)
- 2005
The NBC sitcom The Office was based on the British comedy series of the same name, co-created by Ricky Gervais, who in the original series had also starred as David Brent, terminally disingenuous office manager of Wernham Hogg Paper Merchants (Slough Branch). The American version top-billed Steve Carell as Michael Scott, regional manager in a branch office of the Dunder-Mifflin Paper Company. Forever trying to put a "happy face" on office conditions where he worked, Michael was cursed with two fatal flaws: he thought he was funny and cool, and worse yet, he thought he was actually competent. Michael's employees included laid-back, sarcastic sales rep Jim Halpert (John Krasinski); Jim's cubicle-mate and mortal enemy, ineffectual but power-hungry Dwight Schrute (Rainn Wilson); engaged receptionist Pam Beesly (Jenna Fischer), whom Jim secretly has a crush on; and office temp Ryan Howard (B.J. Novak), who quietly observes the office hijinks from the sidelines. Filmed in a faux documentary style, The Office began its first season (actually a six-episode trial run) on March 24, 2005. ~ Rovi
- Starring:
- Steve Carell, Rainn Wilson, (more)
Most of the six episodes in the first season of Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant's Extras follow a similar plot arc: bitter day player Andy (Gervais) trades barbs with his friend and colleague Maggie (Scottish actress Ashley Jensen), lobbies unsuccessfully for his agent (Merchant) to find him a proper acting gig, ingratiates himself with one of the big-name actors on whose films he's working, and finds himself stymied by either Maggie's verbal diarrhea or his own prickly personality. Within these narrow confines, however, Gervais and Merchant find just as much comic material as they did in the quotidian workplace of their breakout hit, The Office. The two shows definitely share an aesthetic, from their dry comedic sensibility to the laugh-track-free style that underscores their long, uncomfortable silences. Unlike the ensemble-style The Office, however, Extras focuses on just three core characters and a revolving cast of guest stars, including the celebrities who lend their names to the episode titles. Hollywood stars Ben Stiller, Kate Winslet, Samuel L. Jackson, and Patrick Stewart all spoof their public personae with glee, as do U.K. personalities Ross Kemp and Les Dennis. Written and directed jointly by Gervais and Merchant, Extras is a joint production of the BBC, where it ran in its native England, and HBO, where it appeared in America. ~ Brian J. Dillard, Rovi
- Starring:
- Ricky Gervais, Ashley Jensen, (more)
- 2001
David (Ricky Gervais) fires the same forklift operator (Neil Fitzmaurice) he hired at the beginning of the first episode, which somehow leads to a discussion of the difference between midgets and dwarves. Malcolm (Robin Hooper) wonders why David has hired an assistant, Karen (Nicola Cotter), when the company is laying people off. David decides to try to make Tim (Martin Freeman) "feel good about himself," so he'll stay on, but Tim's reasoning ends up making Karen question her decision to join the company. Tim and Dawn (Lucy Davis) are still painfully awkward around each other. Dawn tells the documentary crew she secretly hopes she'll get laid off because she feels like she's "treading water." Jennifer (Stirling Gallacher) comes down from the head office with some surprising news for David. She's being promoted to partner, and the board of directors wants David to replace her. If he decides to take the job, his branch will be downsized. After their meeting, the staff, fearful of losing their jobs, demands to know what's going on. David decides to tell them that there's bad news, and good news. After telling them that their office is being downsized, and that those who aren't sacked will be transferred to another branch, he's surprised to find that they aren't especially happy about his promotion. Malcolm has to point out that instead of bad news and good news, he really gave them "bad news and irrelevant news." But at a glum office party that night, David tells them all something that will alter everyone's future plans. ~ Josh Ralske, Rovi
- 2001
Lee (Joel Beckett) and Dawn (Lucy Davis) have an argument, and Dawn is considering calling off their engagement. Tim (Martin Freeman) tries to reassure her that things will work out, while Gareth (Mackenzie Crook) helpfully tells Dawn that she has another potential suitor in a warehouse worker he refers to as "Monkey Alan." "He fancies you," Gareth tells her, "even if no one else does." Rowan (Vincent Franklyn), a facilitator, comes in to assist with some company training exercises, but his efforts are thwarted by David's (Ricky Gervais) meddling. First the team watches a video on customer service called "Who Cares, Wins," hosted by Peter Purves. Then David mucks up a role-playing exercise. Rowan asks them each to share their "ultimate fantasy," starting things off by mentioning that he'd like to have his own island. David's ultimate fantasy is "to live forever," and Gareth, arriving late and perhaps misunderstanding the exercise, answers, "Two lesbians, probably. Sisters. I'm just watching." When Tim is asked for his input, he replies, "I never thought I'd say this, but could I hear more from Gareth, please." When Keith (Ewan Macintosh) mentions that his real interest is music, it prompts David to pull out his old guitar, and most of the rest of the day is spent listening to him play his unique music, including a number about "free love on the Free Love Freeway." Eventually, Tim reaches the breaking point, decides to quit, and makes a decision involving his friendship with Dawn that will come back to haunt him. ~ Josh Ralske, Rovi
- 2001
Tim (Martin Freeman) tells Gareth (Mackenzie Crook) that he's leaving the firm to go back to school and study psychology. Gareth tests Tim's skill by asking him, "What am I thinking right now?" Tim makes a couple of good guesses, but it turns out to be, "Will there ever be a boy born who can swim faster than a shark?" David (Ricky Gervais) is upset with Donna (Sally Bretton) when she shows up late for work, especially as she never came home the night before. His consternation grows when Donna makes it clear that she spent the night with a man. David interviews candidates for a new position as his assistant, despite the fact that he's been told to cut staff. David defends this action, saying, "Who's to say that hiring staff won't save us money in the long run?" and complains that "I'm doing my own stapling." He quickly decides to hire Karen (Nicola Cotter), a pretty blond, and asks her where she'll be going to celebrate, because he may turn up there with his friends. Gareth gives Donna a private seminar on "Hidden Dangers in the Workplace." Tim, having spent the day trying to convince people that he was only asking Dawn (Lucy Davis) out as a friend, decides to spend the evening out carousing with David, Gareth, and Chris Finch (Ralph Ineson). They go to a sleazy nightclub called Chasers, which Gareth says is "a fun place, but it's full of loose women." At the club, they run into Karen, who spurns David's feeble advances, and Donna, who publicly displays her newfound affection for Ricky (Oliver Chris), much to David's chagrin. ~ Josh Ralske, Rovi
- 2001
Pretty Donna (Sally Bretton) arrives in the office. David (Ricky Gervais) explains to everyone that she's the daughter of good friends of his, and staying at his flat, so "hands off." Gareth (Mackenzie Crook) offers to show her the ropes, and orders Tim (Martin Freeman) to move so she can use his desk. Tim does not recognize Gareth's authority. Noticing that Gareth is carrying his mobile in a shoulder holster, Tim spends the day calling Gareth repeatedly with a one-word obscene message. While showing Donna the office e-mail system, David opens up a doctored photo. It's his head on the body of a nude woman who is "servicing" two men. "I'm angry, not because I'm in it," explains David, "but because it degrades women...which I hate." He argues with Gareth about who hates sexism more. David assigns Gareth to discreetly investigate and find out who's responsible for the photo. Gareth uses the conference room as his office, and the interrogations begin. Jennifer Taylor Clark (Stirling Gallacher) shows up to find out that, to keep up morale, David has told his people there would be no redundancies. "Surely it's going to be worse for morale in the long run when there are redundancies and you've told people that there won't be," she explains. "They won't remember," he replies weakly. David eventually feels compelled to tell Jennifer that he's fired "Julie Anderton," who worked in the warehouse. A visit to the warehouse finds no record of such a person, but Jennifer does happen upon a group of workers watching a tape of two dogs rutting. Gareth's investigation inevitably leads to Tim, but it turns out that someone closer to David is to blame for the photo. ~ Josh Ralske, Rovi
- 2001
It's Tim's (Martin Freeman) 30th birthday, so he shows up to work early, in the goofy radio hat his mother bought for him. David (Ricky Gervais) is excited because the quiz is tonight, and he and his pal Chris Finch (Ralph Ineson), sales rep extraordinaire, intend to dominate, as they have in years past. But David fears a threat when he learns that Ricky (Oliver Chris) was once a contestant on "Blockbusters," a television quiz show. Lee (Joel Beckett) and Dawn (Lucy Davis) present Tim with a giant inflatable penis. Lee talks about his plans for the future with Dawn. He figures they'll move in with his mum, and after having a few kids, Dawn might get a part-time cleaning job. "Got to dream a dream," sighs Dawn, and when Tim chuckles at this, Lee takes offense. David explains to the film crew, "There are things I would never laugh at. The handicapped," he elaborates. "Because there's nothing funny about them. Or any deformity." Dawn tries to organize drinks for Tim's birthday, but David is worried that it will interfere with the quiz. Gareth (Mackenzie Crook) is the quizmaster, which guarantees no shortage of questions about warfare. When Ricky and Tim team up to beat David and Finch, it leads to drunken recriminations, another challenge, and one employee's humiliation. ~ Josh Ralske, Rovi
- 2001
David Brent (Ricky Gervais) introduces the documentary crew to the office receptionist, Dawn (Lucy Davis), snidely joking, "Every bloke in the office has woken up at the crack of Dawn." Tim (Martin Freeman) starts to describe his job as a sales rep, before trailing off. "I'm boring myself, talking about it." David jokingly fires Gareth (Mackenzie Crook), the sales "team leader" who went out drinking with him the night before. Jennifer Taylor Clark (Stirling Gallacher) shows up from the head office and warns David that the company is merging his branch with another, and there will be redundancies. David chooses not to worry his underlings with this information. Ricky (Oliver Chris) shows up from the temp agency, and David shows him around. Gareth complains to David that Tim has submerged his stapler in jelly again. Gareth is very anal about his office supplies, and has made the mistake of telling Tim that he doesn't like jelly. "I don't trust the way it moves," he says. Gareth explains to the crew that he's from the Regimental Army. "You can't muck about there," he says. "It's one of the rules." Ricky breaks David up by suggesting that Tim be put in "custard-y." Later, when Tim puts up a pile of boxes to separate his desk from Gareth's, Gareth complains that it's "misuse of company files." With rumors of redundancies flying, David calls a staff meeting to set the record straight. Gareth insists that, because he's team leader, David should whisper the news to him first. Tim asks Dawn out for a drink, but is spurned when her fiancé, Lee (Joel Beckett), shows up. David tells the film crew he's "a friend first and a boss second...probably an entertainer third," before pretending to fire a distraught Dawn for stealing Post-it notes. ~ Josh Ralske, Rovi
Welcome to Wernham Hogg, a suburban paper company where "life is stationery." Critics and fans alike have lauded this hilarious, biting look at everyday office life, told in the mockumentary style of cult comedy classics such as This is Spinal Tap and The Larry Sanders Show. The show revolves around David Brent, (an instant classic character widely compared to Basil Fawlty of Fawlty Towers) the oblivious general manager who instigates petty office rivalries. The wince-worthy Brent still considers himself "a friend first and a boss second...probably an entertainer third."
- Starring:
- Ricky Gervais
- 2001
A wildly popular British comedy series shot in mockumentary style, The Office detailed the daily struggles of the bored cubicle-dwellers at Wernham Hogg -- a paper supply company located in the quiet English town of Slough. Their boss, attention-craving lower middle manager David Brent (Ricky Gervais), possessed a tacky and tasteless sense of humor which proved a constant source of irritation to all within earshot. Throughout the first season of the series, tireless joker Brent played the constant clown even as his office faced massive cutbacks and the employees nervously pondered the prospect of unemployment. Later, when the team's worst fears began to come true, Brent dismissed their malaise while enthusiastically gloating over his own promotion. At the onset of the second season, the Slough branch of Wernham Hogg began preparing for the inevitable merger with the nearby Swinton branch, a consolidation that would find Brent under the leadership of new boss Neil Godwin (Patrick Baladi) -- a handsome and driven leader who had previously been Brent's equivalent at the Swinton branch. When Brent's awkward welcoming speech manages to offend just about every one of the serious-minded staff of the newly arrived Swinton team -- black employee Oliver (Howard Sadler) and disabled Brenda (Julie Fernandez) in particular -- David is summarily reprimanded by Wernham Hogg heavy Jennifer Taylor-Clarke (Stirling Gallacher). As David begins to ponder the prospect that his position is fast becoming obsolete due to the competent leadership of Godwin, pretty receptionist Dawn (Lucy Davis) does her best to endure the constant barrage of sexist comments as Tim (Martin Freeman) finds the flame of his longtime torch for her somewhat doused by the arrival of Swinton transplant Rachel (Stacey Roca). It's also during this time that the once casually irritating brownnosing of office suck-up Gareth (Mackenzie Crook) becomes absolutely intolerable to the put upon fellow co-workers. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi
- Starring:
- Ricky Gervais, Martin Freeman, (more)
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