Synopsis
A radio journalist and his technician get in over their heads when they hatch a scheme to fake their own kidnapping during a rebel uprising in South America and hide out in New York instead.
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Cast
- Ricky GervaisAlbert Finch
- Eric BanaFrank Bonneville
- Vera FarmigaEleanor Finch
- Kelly MacdonaldClaire Maddox
- Benjamin BrattJohn Baker
- Raúl CastilloDomingo
- America FerreraBrigida
- Meghan HeffernVirginia
- Kevin PollakGeoffrey Mallard
- Mimi KuzykSecretary of State
Recommendations
- 70
Screen Daily
Perversely pleasurable, it works on its own self-conscious terms, though not all audiences will appreciate its English brand of sad-sack humour. - 70
New York Daily News
Some viewers may be surprised by how good Bana is doing comedy. Same with Farmiga, but that allows Gervais to leave some of the heavier lifting as far as acting to his co-stars. Gervais has again done a solid job writing and directing his own material. - 42
The A.V. Club
The more Special Correspondents skirts bad taste — by having the heroes record an ISIS-inspired ransom tape, for instance — the closer it gets to having something to say about mass media and geopolitics. - 42
Entertainment Weekly
What Gervais may have previously turned into a pointed satire of the news media instead becomes a flimsy farce that’s surprisingly low on laughs. - 40
TheWrap
[Gervais] abandons all sharp edges and serves up a bland, toothless picture that isn’t particularly scathing and doesn’t have anything much to say, even though the basic premise might have allowed for some satirical jabs at journalism and politics. - 40
Variety
Gervais’ tale is primarily consumed with middle-of-the-road squabbling between its headliners, whose yin-yang chemistry never results in more than a few chuckle-worthy bon mots. - 40
The Guardian
Special Correspondents shows that Gervais has a plausible Hollywood career, but there’s a baffling lack of real laughs and performance chemistry between the leads, and very little of the acid characterisation and cynical discomfort which is vital to his screen presence. - 38
Slant Magazine
Ricky Gervais's film hopscotches through a variety of premises, looking for jokes that never arrive.
