Ricky Gervais / USA UK Canada / 2016 / 100mins

Available on Netflix now.

There’s a moment in Netflix’s Special Correspondents where Ricky Gervais’ character, sound technician Ian Finch, re-creates a beautiful yet dangerous Ecuadorian environment through carefully selected audio cues. A tropical wonderland unfurls; the gentle hum of a jungle setting rudely interrupted by the clank and crash of war. It’s quite an affecting moment. Shame then, that the rest of Gervais’ first solo outing as a feature director, could be so tone deaf.

The plot centres on Gervais’ schlub-character, and maverick reporter Frank Bonneville, played by Eric Bana, as they attempt to report on an uprising in war-torn Ecuador. Following a series of accidents, they find themselves without plane tickets or passports, so stoop to hiding out in the restaurant across the road from the radio station, faking news reports and stirring up un-founded rumours to save face.

It’s funny that the film discusses the theme of playing at your job, as Gervais seems to have no real interest in any of the subjects he’s tackling. The characters are thinly sketched, offering up little in the way of humour or emotional resonance – each one voicing their internal exposition like GCSE Drama students performing plays about ‘issues’.

Where once Gervais, along with Stephen Merchant, was the king of minute observations and pin-point accuracy, here he seems to have little grasp on nuance or detail. The character of Finch is played as pathetic, as he reads comics, plays video games and collects Marvel figurines. The snide emanating from Gervais’ writing is palpable, and considering that Marvel are releasing some of the highest-grossing mainstream films of the moment, these observations are further evidence that Gervais has lost his ear for reality.

The cast struggles, understandably. Despite his sketch comedy beginnings, Bana seems unable to tackle the humour, while Kevin Pollack is restricted by a part that can’t decide whether it’s a parody of the irate captain in cop films, or just a poor imitation of one. While it’s heart-breaking to see the brilliant Kelly MacDonald given a thankless role as a sad-sack love interest, the real winner here is Vera Farmiga. Her role is little more than a pantomime villain but she excels at this withering and self-obsessed streak of comedy. She really should be given more comedic roles.

Ultimately, Special Correspondents doesn’t really hold together. At 100 minutes, it’s not too long, but certainly feels it. The largely dialogue-led scenes feel repetitive and tell, rather than show. And as the dynamics shift, you never get a sense of mounting jeopardy; it remains safe and unconcerned with satisfactory resolutions.

It’s a shame to see Gervais release something so lacklustre. While he’s clearly a master of his comic voice; he’s certainly lost his understanding of tone.