Netflix’s first original film, Beasts Of No Nation, is currently making waves during awards season, picking up multiple nominations for Idris Elba and young co-star Abraham Attah. Its second film, The Ridiculous 6, err, not so much. Aside from Cary Fukunaga’s civil war tale and the first of Adam Sandler’s four-film deal, there’s lots of streaming goodness to look forward to, including Ricky Gervais’ Special Correspondents.
Taking on acting, directing and writing duties (something he hasn’t done since 2010’s Cemetery Junction), this Netflix Original puts Gervais at the heart of the action. And by action we mean pretending to report from the front line when actually hiding above a Spanish restaurant in Queens… A remake of 2009 French film Envoyés Très Spéciaux (featuring one Omar Sy), Gervais’ Albert Finch plays sidekick to Eric Bana’s struggling radio journalist, Frank Bonneville. With the latter’s career on the skids, the pair take artistic license to the extreme by using a South American uprising to their vocational advantage whilst remaining safely in New York.
Vera Farmiga, Benjamin Bratt, Kelly Macdonald, America Ferrera and Looking’s Raúl Castillo are also onboard for the chaos. Special Correspondents will hit Netflix on April 29.