FAKE NEWS. REAL DISASTER.
When New York City news radio reporter Frank Bonneville (Eric Bana) and his sound technician (Ricky Gervais) accidentally lose their passports, they stay put in the city and fake reports from a war-torn Ecuador. This remake of the French 2009 comedy of the same title starts out as a mildly amusing experience, then gets worse. Once Gervais and his straight-man companion Bana actually get to Ecuador, we’ve lost patience with their inability to make us laugh. Ineffectual as satire; tries to be cute sometimes… but, no.
2016-Britain-Canada-U.S. 100 min. Color. Written and directed by Ricky Gervais. Cast: Ricky Gervais (Ian Finch), Eric Bana (Frank Bonneville), Vera Farmiga (Eleanor Finch), Kelly Macdonald, Kevin Pollak, America Ferrera… Benjamin Bratt.
Trivia: First shown at the Tribeca film festival, then released on Netflix.
