 | |
List Price: $14.98 | | Label: BBC Warner
Salesrank: 8318
Released: November 16, 2004 |
| Our Price: $9.33 |
| Used Price: $4.98 |
|
MPAA Rating: NR (Not Rated) Media: DVD |
|
| Features:
Closed-captioned Color DVD NTSC | |
Editorial Review:
Three years after the cameras stopped rolling the BBC returns to Wernham Hogg to catch up with the staff past and present of the most famous paper merchants in Slough. Gareth is now office manager and Tim last seen asking Dawn out (again) appears to be nearing the point of despair. David Brent has blown his redundancy money on releasing a single and now makes his living selling cleaning products door-to-door and making z-list celebrity appearances. Meanwhile Dawn and her fiance Lee have relocated to Florida but are being flown over specially by the documentary makers for the end-of-year office party. This two-part special of The Office finally brings the story to a close as we find out whether anyone in this life ever gets what they really want.Running Time: 100 min.Format: DVD MOVIE Genre: COMEDY UPC: 794051208422
Description of The Office Special:
The brilliant and devastating comedy of The Office is brought to a satisfying conclusion in The Office Special, originally a two-part Christmas special on the BBC, set three years after the end of the faux-documentary's second season. The former office manager David (Ricky Gervais) now ekes out a desperate existence as an oblivious quasi-celebrity, making awkward, humiliating visits back to the office staff he still believes loves him. Gawky Gareth (Mackenzie Crook) has risen to manager and become a petty tyrant, while the sweet but snide Tim (Martin Freeman) continues to pine for former receptionist Dawn (Lucy Davis), who fled to Florida with her fiance. When the documentary crew pays for Dawn to return for the holiday party, an unpredictable reunion looms ahead. The Office fuses scathing humor and genuine empathy, turning excruciating social discomfort into inspired satire. Fans will find this special rewarding in all respects. --Bret Fetzer
The Office Special Reviews:
Brilliant end of a brilliant series 
2008-04-13 - Three years after the conclusion of the second series, the BBC film crew returns to follow up on the lives of the office workers they chronicled for a hilarious pseudo-documentary. Former manager David Brent (Ricky Gervais) is scraping by as a traveling salesman and making humiliating appearances as a Z-list TV celebrity. Tim Canterbury (Martin Freeman) continues to stagnate in his job, and Dawn Tinsley (Lucy Davis) pines away in the US, sponging off boyfriend Lee's (Joel Beckett) sister. The big Christmas reunion orchestrated for the TV special will be a life-changing event for all three.
This excellent series has always been more than just a brilliant comedy; it is also a closely observed study of self-delusion in many forms, never shying away from the unfortunate consequences. Although writer/directors Gervais and Stephen Merchant have always been quite brutally honest with their characters, I would have come away a bit disappointed had our final moments with David, Tim, and Dawn been as soul-crushing as most of their previous exploits. It is to the credit of Gervais and Merchant that they allow the show to end hopefully without striking a single false note.
The extras are great, too 
2008-01-21 - I can only echo all the positive comments thus far..if you're an Office fan you need this "closure" eh? But I want to add that Gervais/Merchant projects are the only ones where the extra features have me laughing as hard( or harder) than the show itself. Don't skip them!
Perfect wrap up 
2007-09-17 - This final chapter of the Office saga is tightly written, extremely funny, and surprisingly moving. The writers are almost sadistic in their treatment of David Brent, as they throw him from one excruciating humiliation to another, but we see him eventually grow, show some introspection, find a good woman and finally get a laugh. We see the Tim and Dawn situation resolve itself in the most satisfying way possible and we see Chris Finch slapped down like everyone has been hoping he would. This is a classic piece of television, as are all the British "Office" episodes.
For all Office lovers 
2007-01-30 - This is a great ending to the UK series. Hilariously funny. A must see for viewers who have so far only seen the US version. Watch the first two seasons first though!
bbc 
2007-01-15 - Love the office. Ricky Gervais is hilarious. And thanks for sharing your comedy with the state. Cheers