Cemetery Junction

A 1970s-set comedy centred on three young men working in their first jobs and dreaming of where they could go to get away from what their parents have become.

This is the first feature length work from the writing directing partnership of Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant. Trying to recapture the essence of The Office in a semi autobiographic view of Ricky’s life this film meanders its way along at a slow whimsical pace with not a lot going on. With the feeling of a long build up to an energetic end that never materialises it does leave you a little quizzical to why you just sat through what felt like a prequel to Last of the Summer Wine.

The writing duo have one magic aspect with most projects they work on, finding new British talent, which means there is no preconception or expectation from the characters. With a couple of cameos thrown in for good measure from Merchant and Gervais and a stellar performance from Ralph Fiennes the acting is well managed.

So what about the actual story? Based in the Reading area which made some people in the cinema I was in laugh, mainly because we were in Reading. It sees 3 odd ball mates whose sole purpose is to get work done, then go out on the beers, maybe have a fight, get home most likely after a sleep in the cells for good measure. One of them though is getting to the age where more is needed, he feels like life is passing him by and needs to make a break from the comforts of home.

Just like decades of American style movies which normally contain funnier moments or are action packed rather then a British comedy this is a true coming of age tale. Don’t get me wrong there are a couple of funny moments or one liners, with a very rude joke about Noddy thrown in for good measure, it Just felt like it was missing something.