My single most anticipated movie of the last two years has finally arrived, was it worth the wait?  I stayed clear of any form of spoilers and reviews, even shying away from clips posted online.  Cemetery Junction was released on home video (only theatrical in the UK earlier this year) on August 17th;  I bought the DVD (Blu-ray had nothing special) and hurried home.  I watched the feature, the extras and then the feature once more with commentary by Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant.  Here is my reaction:

PLOT
In 1970s England, three friends spend their days joking, drinking, fighting and chasing girls. Freddie (Christian Cooke) wants to leave their working-class world but cool, charismatic Bruce (Tom Hughes) and lovable loser Snork (Jack Doolan) are happy with life the way it is. When Freddie gets a new job as a door-to-door salesman and bumps into his old school sweetheart Julie (Felicity Jones), the gang are forced to make choices that will change their lives forever.  Written and Directed by Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant (creators of The Office and Extras).

REACTION
The idea of having to grow up is a constant theme in Gervais and Merchant’s work, in an interview Gervais stated the script was loosely based upon the lyrics of the Bruce Springsteen song “Thunder Road” [listen here].  For any Gervais fan (Every Thing You Always Wanted to Know…) it has all lead up to this.

Notable DVD Extras: Commentary with Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant & Cast Commentary

Cemetery Junction is a coming-of-age story that is hilarious and heartfelt with performances that take control of the screen every chance they get.  The soundtrack and set pieces are wonderful, the intense amount of work that went into this film shows.  I expected a feel-good dramedy and that is certainly what I got, what I didn’t expect is just how formula is all was.  It plays it very safe and predictable, never challenging itself or the viewer to take the ideas presented in another direction.  You have seen it all before, but luckily it doesn’t come with such an adverse effect here.

I felt happy watching the film (bias love for Gervais aside) and getting to know the characters as they struggle along.  The performance by Tom Hughes is one to note as eerily real, I really enjoyed his work here.  Cemetery Junction’s strength comes from the relationships of the main three friends and you look forward to scenes involving the trio just as much as you would get together with your own circle of friends.

This film is clearly close to Gervais and Merchant’s heart, a love letter to England they have said.   It’s nostalgia of days gone by; for better or worse.  Gervais and Merchant are talented writers and it’s proven here that they have what it takes to take on feature films.

CHASE
I hope the duo does more challenging work (I’d love to see a full on drama) in the future and dig deeper into the heart and soul of people as we know they can do really well.  They did it with Cemetery Junction, just not enough to leave much of a lasting impression.  This is a nice movie that you won’t regret watching or even owning, you can always count on Ricky Gervais for that.

Don’t take this as a sign that it’s a bad movie, take it as a sign that Sony can’t market a movie with a relatively unknown cast and Ricky Gervais, who hasn’t quite performed as well as many would think in theaters.  After hitting theatres in the U.K. back in April, Ricky Gervais’ latest film Cemetery Junction will be going straight to DVD here in North America. Sony Pictures Home Entertainment has announced an August 17th date for DVD.  One can hope that the film with get some limited play in time for award season, or am I asking for too much?  The soundtrack alone deserves a freakin’ award!  This is sad.  Just look at these reviews:

Special features include:

• Commentary with Writers/Directors Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant
• Cast commentary with Christian Cooke, Tom Hughes, and Jack Doolan
• Deleted scenes
• Featurette: “The Directors: A Conversation with Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant”
• Featurette: “The Lads Look Back: The Stars Discuss Cemetery Junction”
• Featurette: “Seventies Style: Production and Costume Design” (Blu-ray only)
• Featurette: “Snow Dude” (Blu-ray only)
• Featurette: “The Start of Filming” (Blu-ray only)
• Featurette: “Week 1″ (Blu-ray only)
• Featurette: “Meet The Boys” (Blu-ray only)
• Featurette: “The Directors On Set” (Blu-ray only)

The Invention of lying (2009) soon came along which put Gervais in the writer/director chair.  In this high concept comedy, in which the gene for lying never evolved in humans, Gervais plays the first man that can lie, Mark.   The film still left me wanting more honesty from Gervais, I know there had to be another script somewhere underneath the safety net of this Hollywood film; and we finally got it.

Alas, Cemetery Junction (2010) (formerly titled The Man from the Pru).  The film just from the trailers, soundtrack and interviews with Gervais will show that it has all lead up to this.  His honest portrayal of an earlier time in England with so many autobiographical references it’s hard to keep up.  Listening and watching Ricky after all these years has led me to a point where it’s almost like I’ve been studying him and Cemetery Junction is the final exam.  I will go on at length with Cemetery Junction in an official “preview” post, so get ready for that.

Before the big 3 films mentioned above we can also look at earlier works; Gervais’ first film role was in 2005 in the animated feature Valiant where he did the voice for the character Bugsy.  In 2006 Gervais appeared briefly in the Christopher Guest film For Your Consideration as Martin Gibb, a slick studio executive for the film within a film, Home for Thanksgiving. Gervais also had a small role in the film Night at the Museum in 2006, where he played the museum director, Dr. McPhee, opposite Ben Stiller. Gervais rounded out his small cameo roles in 2007 when he appeared in the film Stardust as Ferdy the Fence with Robert De Niro and Michelle Pfeiffer.  Gervais also made a cameo appearance in Night at the Museum 2: Battle of the Smithsonian in 2009.  Gervais is also working on an animated version of Flanimals which is currently announced, but yet to begin pre-production.

Let us watch some trailers:

Click on Fonzy to enlarge.

The first poster for Ricky Gervais and Spephen Merchant’s first collaborative feature, Cemetary Junction, has been released.  We gave you the trailer earlier this week, very cool.  I like how I can only name Gervais from the poster, name actors are overrated.  I’m looking at you Reginald VelJohnson.

Set in the 1970s, Cemetary Junction follows Freddie (Christian Cooke) who is fed up of his dead end working-class life and looking for a way to escape.  Rounding out the cast are Tom Hughes, Jack Doolan, Ricky Gervais, Ralph Fiennes, Emily Watson, Matthew Goode and Felicity Jones.

UPDATE 1:  Sony took away trailer.  I will have a chin wag with them and get it back.

UPDATE 2:  We have a trailer…for now

This is the best 6am wake up ever.  A few months ago we had the teaser for Cemetery Junction, and now the trailer is here (after the jump).  If you saw my ‘Everything You Wanted To Know About Ricky Gervais’ article, then you probably know that there is a slight man crush going on between him and I.  He just doesn’t know it, or he chooses not to acknowledge it…he doesn’t even write or call.  Tosser.

Looking at an April 2010 UK release Cemetery Junction; co-written and co-directed by his frequent collaborator Stephen Merchant, Cemetery Junction looks to be exactly what Gervais wants to do in film, write what he knows.   The Invention of Lying was a good looking ‘big time’ picture, where as Junction looks to be a home grown semi-biopic.  It’s gonna be good innit?

CEMETERY JUNCTION Tells the funny, touching and universal story of being trapped in a small town and dreaming of escape. In 1970s England, three blue-collar friends spend their days joking, drinking, fighting and chasing girls. Freddie (Christian Cooke) wants to leave their working-class world but cool, charismatic Bruce (Tom Hughes) and lovable loser Snork (Jack Doolan) are happy with life the way it is. When Freddie gets a new job as a door-to-door salesman and bumps into his old school sweetheart Julie (Felicity Jones), the gang are forced to make choices that will change their lives for ever.

Check out the trailer below:

click for goblin size

Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant are still busy at work on Cemetery Junction, but the boys were kind enough to give a word on the progress.  Somehow over the years, I never get tired of Gervais’ shameless plugs – he always seems to make them awesome.  Not as awesome as this mind you, never the less the film is near a wrap (industry jargon) and will be released into in cinemas in 2010.

Video after the jump.
Stay on his blog for updates.

Click here to view the embedded video.