Special Correspondents (2016)

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.

Director:

Ricky Gervais

Writer:

Ricky Gervais

Stars:

Ricky Gervais, Eric Bana, Vera Farmiga

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Ricky Gervais	...	Finch
Eric Bana	...	Frank
Vera Farmiga	...	Eleanor
Kelly Macdonald	...	Claire
Kevin Pollak	...	Mallard
America Ferrera	...	Brigida
Raúl Castillo	...	Domingo
Benjamin Bratt	...	Baker
Kim Ramirez	...	Brenda
Jim Norton	...	Rent Boy #1
Bob Banks	...	Crime Scene Officer
Jonathan Langdon	...	Bellboy
Glen Grant	...	Perry
Duane Murray	...	Sacha
Ryan F. Hughes	...	Barman

Storyline

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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Plot Keywords:

bickering | james bond reference | fabrication | marriage | radio broadcast | 

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Taglines:

Fake news. Real disaster.

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Genres:

Comedy

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Certificate:

TV-MA

Details

Country:

Canada UK USA

Language:

English Spanish

Release Date:

29 April 2016 (USA)

Also Known As:

Hírhajhászok

Filming Locations:

Toronto, Ontario, Canada

Company Credits

Production Co:

BRON Studios,Unanimous Entertainment,Stage 6 Films

Technical Specs

Runtime:

101 min

Sound Mix:

DTS Dolby Digital SDDS

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Jane Fallon, Ricky's long-term girlfriend, was the Script Supervisor on the film.

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Goofs

The Equadorians all speak to each other in English despite their native tongue being Spanish.

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Quotes

Ian Finch: [broadcasting by cell phone] It's quiet. Too quiet. In the sky, combat helicopters stop. An explosion rings out. My own technician has another near-miss. A bullet flies *inches* above his head. Lucky for him he's so short, or he'd most certainly be dead by now. This is Frank Bonneville, Q63.5 News.

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Crazy Credits

"Trailer Puppy .... Charlie"

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Connections

Featured in The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon: Ricky Gervais/Ariana Grande (2016)

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Soundtracks

Good Times
Written by Nile Rodgers (as Nile Rogers) / Bernard Edwards
Performed by Chic
Published by Sony/ATV Songs LLC / Warner/Chappell Music Inc.
Licensed courtesy of Warner Music UK Ltd.

User Reviews

Rubbish

As the great philosopher Karl Pilkington once said, "When anything's done quickly, it tends to be sort of s**t."

The script for this could've been done in half an hour. Either Gervais' writing ability has waned as his fame has grown, or has been hampered by the constraints of writing for film. His TV series' have been uniquely excellent; character-driven comedies occasionally punctuated by bursts of emotion. His full-length feature films however have been mediocre at best; Ghost Town had none of his irreverent wit, The Invention of Lying was just a rehash of the same ideas as his first film, and now Special Correspondents feels like the work of someone who has made too much money to care. This is a man who had the restraint to end one of Britain's greatest and most popular sitcoms and forgo a boatload of cash because he feared it would tarnish its quality. Instead he churns out this.

Clichéd characters, predictable plot, very little comedy - the entire film rides on Gervais' previous successes. Take him out of the equation and you are left with a bargain bin film with a "not quite A-List but close enough to put them on the box art" supporting cast and a story that seems to have been forcibly reworked for Hollywood by the 'men upstairs' to make as much money and appeal to as broad a range of people as possible.

Predictable, forgettable cash-grab, laden with all the tropes of a poor Hollywood comedy that an earlier Gervais would've loathed. Don't waste your time.