WillSushyMedia
This movie was so-so. It had it's moments, but wasn't the greatest.
BelSports
This is a coming of age storyline that you've seen in one form or another for decades. It takes a truly unique voice to make yet another one worth watching.
Brendon Jones
It’s fine. It's literally the definition of a fine movie. You’ve seen it before, you know every beat and outcome before the characters even do. Only question is how much escapism you’re looking for.
illegal_alien51
I've never really cared about Ricky Gervais until this show. Now I really really dislike him! Creating a show for the pure purpose of insulting someone who he (Rick) perceives below him and to make fun of them... that's pretty despicable and is in the end going to cost Ricky dearly in his career, as he strikes me as someone who will continue stretching it until it breaks. The more fun to see that this show actually is incredibly enjoyable, but for completely different reasons that RG intended.Ricky seems to see himself as someone who the rest of the world has to look up to, purely because of his fame (and because he thinks no end of himself) . And that's the reason why he thinks he can get away with trying to degrade someone for his own (yet public) amusement. Ricky is arrogantly assuming that he has the right to be teaching Karl something that Karl -should normally know-. Actually, in some way he is. Karl is experiencing all the memorable moments of travel that everybody in hindsight enjoys and tells their friends and relatives about when they get back home. It turns out, the bad intentions of Ricky, turn into a good thing for Karl. The stuff we tell people from our travels are not the things that went well, but the things that went wrong! So... great, I guess! Karl might seem not to have been around much, yet he is perceiving his surroundings with an incredible clarity, an astounding neutrality, and in a way, he's not passing judgment tainted by his culture's preconceived notions about the places he visits. In stead he judges his surroundings and the people on the basis of his own every day, here and now, way of life.That gives an incredibly refreshing view of cultures and other people that you don't usually see in travel programs. Karl is able to quickly spot the core of the subject, peeling every issue like an onion and making a quick and witty commentary about it that is spot on! His views of people and culture are practical, straight forward, simplified (yet no way simple) and no nonsense. That's is the beauty of Karl's mind, who, in a moment of tension between him and Ricky actually subjects even Ricky to the hammer of his straight forward intellect when he clarifies something Ricky misunderstood about Karl.Karl had mentioned that "You are better off living in the hole, looking at the palace, than living in the palace looking at the hole...". The meaning of this escaped Ricky and Ricky was quick to try to physically put Karl in the "hole" Ricky thought Karl wanted to be in. That Karl wasn't literally speaking escaped Ricky.Not only did Karl really enjoy his night in said "hole" he was forced to sleep in, (back at ya Ricky!) but Karl actually in so few words did what he does best, as he probably unintentionally summed up their intended parasitic relationship in that profound comment: Ricky is living in the palace looking at the hole, while Karl is in the hole looking at the palace.And yes, Karl is ways better off with that! By being aloof, Ricky can only look on in daft amusement as Karl is actually having the time of his life, something that will forever enrich him as a person.Thanks Karl, you are (the only person) who makes this show truly enjoyable! Ricky is not the star here, nor is he in any way needed to make this thing enjoyable. I would gladly watch any travel show Karl is in, where as Ricky could be pulled off the air permanently, just to do the world a favor.Go Karl, and don't let them get to ya!
sketchboy123
So, I've watched a season of An Idiot Abroad and I've gone from isn't this funny to this is actually offensive. Carl goes to Israel and they arranged to have him kidnapped by pretend terrorists that are actually actors. What's the point of that? Why associate Israel with kidnapping? If you are trying to get this idiot's reaction to a culture, then why involve stereotypical scenarios? When he was in Bejing they sent him to the strangest back alleys when there are great night clubs, restaurants and museums. I now think this show has a hidden agenda to do exactly the opposite of their stated goal. They say they are sending this close-minded person abroad for a good laugh, but the producers are the close minded ones, sending Carl to the sh*tiest places and representing these bad examples as the norm for foreign places.
bradleyluke79
Put together by the two comedic genius' that brought you "The Office" and "Extras". You'd think that this show would be a genius, subtle and well put together comedy featuring Stephen Merchant and Ricky Gervais.But no, this show is all about one lovable idiot. Named Karl Pilkington. Karl Pilkington is the average Brit who will make you love this show after one episode. The comedy is stupidly funny that everyone will understand. Karl is a reluctant traveler practically forced into these situations by two friends. Watch, as the ultimate pessimist is put in the worst of conditions and gives his opinions idiotic but hilarious opinions on his travels and his own life.If you have a strong dislike of Ricky Gervais or Stephen Merchant(A lot of people seem to). Don't worry they're not in it much.The best thing about the show is that it's all real! Karl is no actor. He is genuine simpleton living out his life in London. However, Ricky and Steve have hidden some surprises along the way that Karl describes as "the lowest points of me life"
ShowMeTheCredits
Ricky Gervais is both an amazing comedian, actor and script writer. He's proved that with The Office and his roles in various Hollywood productions.The Office is that rare occasion where the mockumentary style actually works, and works fantastically. This despite the fact that we've been spoon-fed this genre in loads ever since The Blair Witch Project surfaced.The fact that it works, I believe, is primarily Ricky Gervais' performance on the show (just look at the American counterpart and see how it falls desperately behind with Steve Carell at the wheel), secondarily because of the extremely well-written script. We eventually accept the silliness and incredibility of the whole setup, because every character and every performance is so well written and well performed.But that's also why An Idiot Abroad eventually fails to seduce. At the onset, nothing seems credible. Ricky's a bit too much, and Karl's just not that good of an actor. When Ricky stares stupidly into the camera and says something retarded in the Office, we can't help but think, "Aw, that guy's such an idiot!". When Karl presents his open-mouthed blank expression on Idiot, we just think, "Aww, too bad he isn't a better actor."So, it's off to a bad start, but it quite quickly picks up again. Not because the scripted parts becomes more credible, quite the contrary, but because Karl has some of the sharpest, most comical observations about the places they send him that any cynic could possibly come up with. It's like watching a stand-up comedian doing the Mr. Grumpy Show. It's super funny.And that's where it really shines. I don't know if Mr. Piklington is indeed a stand-up comedian or if Ricky is writing his monologues (he sure does sound like Ricky), but they can be really fantastic.It fails because the scripted part is so pubescent and stupid, and Karl and the writers fail to make us accept the incredibility of it all. Seeing Karl squirm his way through a gay beach with a gay guide coming on to him is just toe-clenching bad scripting and you find yourself face-palming your way through it all.This was also the episode (6, I think) where I decided to stop watching any more. Not because I have a problem with the subject matter — I love a good gay joke as much as the next sexually insecure guy — but because the terrible scripting starts to fill more and more in each episode, leaving less and less room for Karl's stand-up acts.You start to ask yourself, "Am I really going to spend 42 minutes with my face at my palm just to collect a total of three minutes worth of really good comedy?" I can put on a Louis C.K. show and laugh my brains out for an hour straight. Or I can watch twenty episodes of An Idiot Abroad and spread the laughs out over that.To me, the former option wins. I'm still excited to see what else Gervais and Merchant can present for us. I have big hopes — the British comedy tradition is unparalleled by anyone else on the planet. This just isn't it.
