If you wanted concrete unassailable proof that Gervais is losing his comedic religion completely (or that, as some people claim, the real brains of the operation was Stephen Merchant all along), this movie might be it. I doubt that's true, but SC feeds that theory well. There are very few comedies (and I've seen hundreds) that manage to completely lose my interest after only 15 minutes or so, where it was a major chore to get through to the finish line, that moment of relief when the movie finally wraps up its dungation, then wipes itself, flushes, and then lets the viewer off into the sunset i.e. freedom.
Very ironically and amazingly, with the hindsight of having "seen" the movie in its entirety (I sort of saw the whole thing, kinda glanced at it now and again while doing other things, because it's literally impossible to watch all 100 min. of this unfunny, boring crap), it turns out that those first 15 minutes or so were the HIGHLIGHT of the movie. That section of the flick actually had a line or two that were solid, and the plot at that point still made some sense.
Made some sense, but not that much, either. For example, casting Farmiga as Gervais's wife is not only an example of embarrassing miscasting, but her character behaves in highly absurd and non-credible ways from the very moment she steps into the film. Her first conversations with Gervais are baffling, because not for one second can the viewer buy into this loony set-up that they really are husband and wife, and had been for years. They are a mismatch made in hell. Gervais plays a "loser", yet he has Farmiga as a wife: makes zero sense. Plus, given her ambitious nature and greediness, she should have left him ages ago, or more logical yet: she wouldn't have hooked up with him in the first place. This is just one in a series of idiocies, contradictions and inconsistencies within a script that insults the viewer's intelligence over and over.
What comes after the mediocre and increasingly dull first 15 minutes or so is the imbecile plot-twist (the movie's actual selling point!), a premise so illogical and preposterous that only a banal slapstick comedy or very infantile French farce could get away with it - perhaps. But SC is more akin to a satiric drama than an actual comedy, i.e. it plays around with the "real world" (or so its confused writers believe) way too closely to be able to get away with such nonsense.
Worse than all the shoddy logic and gazillion plot-holes is the failure of the comedy. The gags bomb wholesale, the dialog is as flat as Nicole Kidman's chest, and every additional plot-twist and event only serves to deepen the viewers' resentment toward themselves for picking this turkey in the first place. I will definitely NOT watch another Gervais film ever again, at least those made in this decade and onwards: so yes, hardship can teach a person some real life lessons.
Also, the very notion that the likes of CNN would bend the truth in favour of a right-wing agenda is mind-bogglingly stupid. Gervais either has a grasp of politics the way a child has a grasp of Civil Engineering, or he had sold himself lock stock and barrel to the current left-wing Establishment and the insane sociopaths who "run" it. Either way, one more reason to consider this one of the worst comedies of the century - and that really is saying a whole lot.
Gervais has become smug, lazy, unfocused and perhaps distracted by too many projects. Just guessing, though it essentially matters not. I am not really that interested in the reasons why SC sucks, just the fact does it DOES suck. His stand-up comeback "Humanity" is great, and that's what he should be doing more of, that's always been his biggest strength. Film-wise he is more miss than hit, and even his TV projects are becoming weaker.
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