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The most helpful critical review
13 of 14 people found the following review helpful:
It is genius, but is it comedy?
......... The real genius of The Office lies with the characters. Each one is superbly written, excellently cast and perfectly acted. It is filmed in the style of a fly-on-the-wall documentary, the self styled star of which is a tragic character named David Brent (Ricky Gervais). Brent is a wannabe superstar trapped in a middle-manager's body. The Office charts, his...
Published on 11 Aug 2004 by John K
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2 of 15 people found the following review helpful:
First series is excellent; second is a waste of time
I'd heard a lot of great things about The Office and ordered the Series 1+2 set. Its nicely packaged, with 3 discs in total. Disc 1 is series 1, by far the best disc of the lot. Disc 2 has some outtakes and an interview with the createors Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant. This disc isn't exactly crammed full of great snippets, but its entertaining. Disc 3 is...
Published on 27 Jun 2004 by ellers88
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13 of 14 people found the following review helpful:
It is genius, but is it comedy?, 11 Aug 2004
......... The real genius of The Office lies with the characters. Each one is superbly written, excellently cast and perfectly acted. It is filmed in the style of a fly-on-the-wall documentary, the self styled star of which is a tragic character named David Brent (Ricky Gervais). Brent is a wannabe superstar trapped in a middle-manager's body. The Office charts, his desperate struggle for recognition whilst he slowly loses his grip on reality, and his job. Alongside Brent stands Gareth Keenan (Mackenzie Crook), a kind of brown-nosing jobsworth who despite all my better instincts, I can't help feeling sorry for. However, from my perspective the greatest facet of The Office's storyline comes from the other two central characters, namely Tim Canterbury (Martin Freeman) and Dawn Tinsley (Lucy Davis). Their unspoken feelings for one another, played out through little more than furtive glances, form one of the most enthralling and well observed on-screen romances of recent times.The Office tracks the lives of the four main characters, but their stories are played out in an environment of superb supporting actors, who bring an air of authenticity to the program. Most notable of these are Chris Finch (Ralph Ineson) as the loud-mouthed bully, and the unsurnamed accountant Keith (Ewen Macintosh) who manages to provide a lot of comedy despite only having about 10 words to say across both series'. The DVD includes some pretty good extra material with some deleted scenes, some of which are very funny, and were - according to Ricky Gervais - removed because they were too much like a traditional sitcom. The deleted scene where Gareth squirts lemon juice in a girl's eye could have ranked alongside Only Fools and Horses' funniest moments. I could happily extol the virtues of the office for hours, but the only way you'll know for sure is by watching it. All I ask is that you give it a chance. I didn't like it when I first saw it, but I was made to watch it again and I haven't looked back. Now I'm just waiting for the two feature length Christmas specials to come out on DVD. If any of you Office fans missed them (shame on you!) they were brilliant and concluded the story perfectly (I nearly shed a tear!).
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21 of 28 people found the following review helpful:
The Work Place Never Sounded So Funny, 24 Feb 2004
I give this DVD/VHS series 10/10It feels both inaccurate and inadequate to describe The Office as a comedy. On a superficial level, it disdains all the conventions of television sitcoms: there are no punch lines, no jokes, no laugh tracks, and no cute happy endings. More profoundly, it's not what we're used to thinking of as funny. Most of the fervently devoted fan base watched with a discomfortingly thrilling combination of identification and mortification. The paradox is that its best moments are almost physically unwatchable.
Set in the offices of a fictional British paper merchant, The Office is filmed in the style of a reality television show. The writing is subtle and deft, the acting wonderful, and the characters beautifully drawn: the cadaverous team leader Gareth (Mackenzie Crook); the monstrous sales rep, Chris Finch (Ralph Ineson); and the decent but long-suffering everyman Tim (Martin Freeman), whose ambition and imagination have been crushed out of him by the banality of the life he dreams uselessly of escaping. The show is stolen, as it was intended to be, by insufferable office manager David Brent, played by codirector-cowriter Ricky Gervais. Brent will become a name as emblematic for a particular kind of British grotesque as Basil Fawlty, but he is a deeper character. Fawlty is an exaggeration of reality, and therefore a safely comic figure. Brent is as appalling as only reality can be.
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10 of 14 people found the following review helpful:
Top British Comedy!, 23 Jul 2004
Without doubt The Office series 1 and 2 is one of the best British comedies for years.All the cast are superb, as is the script. It is simply hillarious. I can't wait for the Christmas Specials to come out. The digital transfer is flawless in every way. I've watched The Office over and over.
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11 of 16 people found the following review helpful:
Best British Comedy in Recent Years - Easily, 26 Jul 2004
The reason i'm writing this is because of an earlier review. Sarah_Marg must be a joker to give such an amazing piece or work 1 star.
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5 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
Splendid, 19 Jun 2004
Ok if you do nothing eles in your life do this. Go out and buy this dvd. The series of the office will go down in comedy history as one of the greats. The premise behind this is that it is fimed in the style of a fly on the wall docu soap. In the offices of a paper merchant in Slough. It is here that we are introduced to the infamous David Brent the manager and the motley crew who make up his staff. The reason this type of comedy works for me and so many is that it does not rely on direct comedy but rather upon observation and the nuances of the human psyche. There is no canned laughter it is not required. David Brent is a monster who shares so many traits of bosses we have all encountered at one time or another. He is so cringe worthy and yet so human . You do not know weather to love him or hate him. Ricky Gervais and Stephen Marchant should be applauded in bringing us such a fantastic origional show.
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1 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
Cringworthy Brent is a classic comedy creation, 19 Aug 2005
Ricky Gervais could never have predicted the overwhelming worldwide success of The Office but it is thoroughly deserved. The two series give us an insight into the warped mind of the world's most annoying boss. This became a classic as soon as it hit the screens. The comedy is groundbreaking, clever and most importantly, hilarious. This DVD package gives you all episodes of both series of one of the top ten comedies ever made. Don't miss out on owning this wonderful programme.
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2 of 10 people found the following review helpful:
the best comedy in years, 11 Mar 2004
this it the best comedy to come out of the uk in years you will love david brent and his staff. take a chance on this and you will not be dissipointed.
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2 of 15 people found the following review helpful:
First series is excellent; second is a waste of time, 27 Jun 2004
I'd heard a lot of great things about The Office and ordered the Series 1+2 set. Its nicely packaged, with 3 discs in total. Disc 1 is series 1, by far the best disc of the lot. Disc 2 has some outtakes and an interview with the createors Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant. This disc isn't exactly crammed full of great snippets, but its entertaining. Disc 3 is series 2. Be aware that each series is 6 episodes only. Nothing wrong with that, just don't expect a big box for each series like you do with a US series. Series 1 is excellent and definitely fulfilled my expectations of a cringe-worthy office environment - I had to pause and walk away sometimes, it was too close to reality for my liking! Series 2 is, ultimately, a let down and I feel like I wasted my time. There's some classic parts and its great to watch the characters change in this series, but its too dark, and really, just isn't that funny. Call me old fashioned, but the "everybody loses everything" ending is really not what I want to spend my few free hours watching. Series 1 gets 5 stars; Series 2 gets 2 stars. Overall 3.5 stars.
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10 of 97 people found the following review helpful:
All hype, no substance, 22 Jul 2004
When The Office was first broadcast on TV, there was so much hype and publicity and every critic was saying that it was "one of the best comedies ever made" and "it's a must-see" so I tuned in to watch with an open mind, but after about 10 minutes, I was changing channel. It didn't make me laugh once! it is rubbish, the only thing that made me remotely amused was the frequent silences and quietness of the place. Its nothing compared to great comedies like The Simpsons, Father Ted or Dad's Army. Utter trash!
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Good price, 5 Oct 2009
This is most likely the best television series ever written and this is also one of the most reasonable prices I have ever seen. I have been a fan of the Office for 2 years now and have always been ashamed that I have not owned a copy but now I do ofor an astonishing price.
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