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The news industry has taken kind of a beating recently. From Brian Williams’ admitting he’d made up war stories to Don Lemon making an embarrassment of himself every time there’s a camera on him to all kinds of disruption happening in ad revenues, distrust in in the industry as a whole and more, it’s being assailed on all sides. There isn’t enough brand loyalty and audience good will going around to fill an ashtray, sometimes because of the actions of media talent, personalities and executives themselves.
The new Netflix original Special Correspondents is a comedic take on just that sort of shenanigans. Eric Bana and Ricky Gervais play a radio journalist and his technician who are assigned a story in Ecuador but who, quite frankly, don’t want to go. So they begin filing false reports from the comfort of a local apartment. One day they’re reported missing, having reported their own fake kidnapping. So they actually have to go down there to be found.
The Posters
The movie’s one poster is alright. Gervais and Bana are shown in Times Square in New York City holding a newspaper bearing their own faces under a headline “Missing in Ecuador.” The same photos are also seen on all the video screens on the buildings around them. Down in the corner there’s the copy “Fake news. Real disaster.” Between all that we get a pretty good idea of the movie’s story and that it involves these two idiots doing something stupid that makes the news.
The Trailers
The first trailer starts off with what sounds like a perilous local report but which we see is actually emanating from an apartment near the radio station they work for. The pair are faking their way through it but soon another news station reports they’re missing in that country, which threatens to blow their whole scam. That means they actually have to travel to Ecuador so they can be found, which is no one’s idea of a good time.
It’s alright. It’s a thin premise, it seems, on which to hang the movie but everyone looks like they’re giving it their all and Bana and Gervais are certainly charming enough.
A second trailer opens with the news team struggling with what they’re doing, which is solved when they get the assignment to go to Ecuador. But they don’t want to actually go there and so concoct their scheme, which of course backfires on them.
This one is much more linear in how it presents the story, starting with the premise and moving on through execution. There are a few little jumps in continuity but overall this gives a much better idea of how the story actually plays out.
Online and Social
As usual with Netflix originals there doesn’t seem to be an official website of its own for the movie. And there’s no social channels for it either, it just hitched a ride on Netflix’s core profiles.
Advertising and Cross-Promotions
Nothing I saw directly but I’d be willing to bet there was some online advertising done to promote the movie and push people to sign up for Netflix in advance of its’ release.
Media and Publicity
At a Netflix programming presentation Gervais revealed that the movie was originally headed for a traditional theatrical release before Netflix swept in and made him a distribution offer. The movie premiered at the recent Tribeca Film Festival, where it came away with moderate reviews and not much buzz. Gervais talked about the movie in various press interviews, commenting on the production, Netflix’s acquisition and more from time to time.
Overall
As I said above, the movie looks alright enough. It’s likely amusing to the level that it qualifies as a not-wasted 90 minutes or so spent in front of one monitor or another. That may sound like a low-bar to clear, but that’s where we are. There’s no real through-line to the campaign or any attempt at brand consistency since there are so few elements here to look at. And, as unfortunately usual, there’s no real attempt here to make an online-only release work especially well with online platforms.
If you’re a fan of Gervais you’ll likely be on board here since he’s one the campaign is centered around. He’s the protagonist, the one who seems to come up with all the harebrained schemes and inappropriate non-sequiturs that Bana’s character reacts to. There’s no laugh-out-loud moments in the trailers so my guess is that the movie is one the audience will likely smile pleasantly through, maybe chuckling every now and again but never fully giving itself over to. It seems like a good choice to have on in the background as you’re checking email at the end of the day.
Discussion
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