I personally think it's the best thing he's done. Funny and genuinely moving. The graveyard bench scenes with Penelope Wilton were very sweet, with an unforced rapport between the two characters/actors.
This in spades.
I get why Gervais is marmite, but I genuinely think this is the best thing he's done.
You really have to get past the arsehole he portrays in the first episode or two though, because it's a journey for his character and it's beautifully handled - through his relationships with the other characters and in particular with Wilton's character who's similarly grieving. The landmark moment with his junkie mate really makes you think.
I watched it in one sitting and I thoroughly recommend doing it that way.
Edit: Thought the last episode rushed it a bit. Without wishing to spoil, I just think that smaller incremental gestures - acknowledgements - would both wrap and leave open at the same time, rather than the Damascene conversion portrayed, whilst I'm sure unintended. That's the one moment I think Merchant really would have made a difference to. Grief isn't a linear thing, although that might be the get out clause for a second series (not that I think it needs one).
My wife and I watched this in just two sittings. Don’t think I have come accross so many comments that people did similar or even less. That speaks volumes.
This really is an excellent piece of work. Thought provoking about what is important in life and for me personally made me think a lot more about not over reacting to things you can't control such as Brexit, my mum's dementia and ignorant people. Will try to rise above it in future x. Cheers Ricky.
I personally think it's the best thing he's done. Funny and genuinely moving. The graveyard bench scenes with Penelope Wilton were very sweet, with an unforced rapport between the two characters/actors.
This in spades.
I get why Gervais is marmite, but I genuinely think this is the best thing he's done.
You really have to get past the arsehole he portrays in the first episode or two though, because it's a journey for his character and it's beautifully handled - through his relationships with the other characters and in particular with Wilton's character who's similarly grieving. The landmark moment with his junkie mate really makes you think.
I watched it in one sitting and I thoroughly recommend doing it that way.
Edit: Thought the last episode rushed it a bit. Without wishing to spoil, I just think that smaller incremental gestures - acknowledgements - would both wrap and leave open at the same time, rather than the Damascene conversion portrayed, whilst I'm sure unintended. That's the one moment I think Merchant really would have made a difference to. Grief isn't a linear thing, although that might be the get out clause for a second series (not that I think it needs one).
That’s a good point that he is an arsehole at the beginning through grief and anger and gradually goes back to being the nice bloke his wife describes in the videos. His giving of the bike etc and fixing things does make more sense then, in that context. Despite my comments earlier, I do think it is a remarkable piece of work, because I do keep thinking about it, which demonstrates, I guess, that it has significant impact. And say what you like about ol Ricky, he’s never afraid to go there, wherever there might be
I can see that I'm swimming against the tide here, and it's hard to convince people when it comes down to taste. So I'll just make a complimentary recommendation: if you're looking for something on similar lines, a well-handled and unsentimental study of grief, I recommend watching Manchester By the Sea.
I can see that I'm swimming against the tide here, and it's hard to convince people when it comes down to taste. So I'll just make a complimentary recommendation: if you're looking for something on similar lines, a well-handled and unsentimental study of grief, I recommend watching Manchester By the Sea.
Watched it on a flight two weeks ago, made me want to jump out over the Atlantic
I love Ricky Gervais and pretty much everything he has ever done, saw Humanity in Cardiff a few years back and it was excellent.
I do enjoy After Life as all Gervais fans will but it is a bit self aggrandising. It's Gervais basically collaborating all his views on the world into one character who is typically miserable and very politically incorrect, and branching them off into a world where his best friends in comedy play rather convenient characters who are there to kick-start a conversation in which he can take a stab at something that irritates him personally. Karl Pilkington has just done exactly the same thing with Sick of It, whereas Stephen Merchant has made a brilliantly funny and original biopic in Fighting With The Family.
I'd like to see Gervais try something a bit different, after Derek where there are a lot of similarities, especially in the supporting cast, I want something new. Maybe he needs to take himself out as basically this is him playing a heartbroken version of himself on all his podcasts.
I can see that I'm swimming against the tide here, and it's hard to convince people when it comes down to taste. So I'll just make a complimentary recommendation: if you're looking for something on similar lines, a well-handled and unsentimental study of grief, I recommend watching Manchester By the Sea.
Manchester by the sea is 10 times anything that after life is. But it’s not something I’m wanting to watch again in a hurry. Great bit of work though.
I was quite enjoying it right up until the last episode. The final episode played out like they'd had a writer's room where they listed every nice thing the character could have done they could think of, and then forgot to edit it down and ran with every idea by mistake. Considering it was only 6 episodes, devoting one to just closure on things that he'd just done was a bit much. Gervais is normally really good at judging the emotional moments but this part seemed endless.
I also really disliked the plot with Julian the addict. Gervais' character gave him the money to kill himself knowing what he would do. He then lied about it to his boss and never told Daphne about it, but continued to comfort her over his death. Neither of these points were ever resolved. We were supposed to see a big redemptive arc for the character but that was nagging away at me the whole time, as if either of those characters had known the truth they wouldn't have had any more to do with him.
I normally like that UK shows are really short, but I think there were enough characters and enough story that it needed to be a fair bit longer to develop all the characters he wrote in. Sandy seemed like she was going to be an interesting character but all we ever learned about her was that she lived with her family and that she was slightly too emotionally invested in her co-worker's misery. I think it shows how interesting the world Gervais created was, but it just felt so compressed
I can see that I'm swimming against the tide here, and it's hard to convince people when it comes down to taste. So I'll just make a complimentary recommendation: if you're looking for something on similar lines, a well-handled and unsentimental study of grief, I recommend watching Manchester By the Sea.
Manchester by the sea is 10 times anything that after life is. But it’s not something I’m wanting to watch again in a hurry. Great bit of work though.
Blimey mate talk about comparing apples to pears! Manchester by the sea was a brilliant film with a couple of career best performances but it was actually depressing to watch and it makes me feel down thinking about it, there was no up or light to it at all. Just a glimmer of hope if that
Afterlife is a situation comedy set against a very painfully sad background. Ricky Gervais does impart a lot of his thoughts into his characters and narrative but luckily his thoughts are provocative and amusing and work within the setting he created.
I'm a fan of Gervais and have seen most of his stand up shows live. Sadly I thought this script was lazy and/or rushed, with lots of recycled material. Very few lol moments, i found the show as a whole rather contrived and predictable. Kerry Godliman is terrible actor, I'm suprised she is still employed as one. Highlights for me were Diane Morgan (cunk) and David Bradley who plays Tony's dad.
She is bloody awful, Gervais only uses her as it distracts from his own one dimensional character. Reminds me of Hayden Christensen as Anakin Skywalker.
Comments
I get why Gervais is marmite, but I genuinely think this is the best thing he's done.
You really have to get past the arsehole he portrays in the first episode or two though, because it's a journey for his character and it's beautifully handled - through his relationships with the other characters and in particular with Wilton's character who's similarly grieving. The landmark moment with his junkie mate really makes you think.
I watched it in one sitting and I thoroughly recommend doing it that way.
Edit: Thought the last episode rushed it a bit. Without wishing to spoil, I just think that smaller incremental gestures - acknowledgements - would both wrap and leave open at the same time, rather than the Damascene conversion portrayed, whilst I'm sure unintended. That's the one moment I think Merchant really would have made a difference to. Grief isn't a linear thing, although that might be the get out clause for a second series (not that I think it needs one).
Thought it was very good.
Despite my comments earlier, I do think it is a remarkable piece of work, because I do keep thinking about it, which demonstrates, I guess, that it has significant impact. And say what you like about ol Ricky, he’s never afraid to go there, wherever there might be
Touching, sad, funny, thought provoking.
If you're a Gervais fan you should love it.
I do enjoy After Life as all Gervais fans will but it is a bit self aggrandising. It's Gervais basically collaborating all his views on the world into one character who is typically miserable and very politically incorrect, and branching them off into a world where his best friends in comedy play rather convenient characters who are there to kick-start a conversation in which he can take a stab at something that irritates him personally. Karl Pilkington has just done exactly the same thing with Sick of It, whereas Stephen Merchant has made a brilliantly funny and original biopic in Fighting With The Family.
I'd like to see Gervais try something a bit different, after Derek where there are a lot of similarities, especially in the supporting cast, I want something new. Maybe he needs to take himself out as basically this is him playing a heartbroken version of himself on all his podcasts.
I also really disliked the plot with Julian the addict. Gervais' character gave him the money to kill himself knowing what he would do. He then lied about it to his boss and never told Daphne about it, but continued to comfort her over his death. Neither of these points were ever resolved. We were supposed to see a big redemptive arc for the character but that was nagging away at me the whole time, as if either of those characters had known the truth they wouldn't have had any more to do with him.
I normally like that UK shows are really short, but I think there were enough characters and enough story that it needed to be a fair bit longer to develop all the characters he wrote in. Sandy seemed like she was going to be an interesting character but all we ever learned about her was that she lived with her family and that she was slightly too emotionally invested in her co-worker's misery. I think it shows how interesting the world Gervais created was, but it just felt so compressed
Afterlife is a situation comedy set against a very painfully sad background. Ricky Gervais does impart a lot of his thoughts into his characters and narrative but luckily his thoughts are provocative and amusing and work within the setting he created.
Monologues to camera are tricky to get right and I thought she did a very good job.