CEMETERY JUNCTION: Ricky Gervais brings out the dead

To paraphrase Democratic Vice Presidential candidate Lloyd Bentsen sparring with Dan Quayle during their 1988 tv debate, "I knew Cemetery Junction Mr Gervais. Cemetery Junction was my home while I was a student. And your film, Mr Gervais, is not set in Cemetery Junction."
CEMETERY JUNCTION, named after but clearly not set in a particularly depressing area of Reading about 60 miles east of London, is the latest stumble in the efforts by British comedian Ricky Gervais to break free of David Brent, the manager from hell he all too memorably created and played in the original British version of "The Office."
I say stumble because the film doesn't work as either a drama or a comedy and does nothing to erase memories of Mr Brent. 

Gervais co-wrote, co-produced and co-directed this coming-of-age drama with his "Office" regular collaborator Stephen Merchant but there's precious little indication of the sparkle and wit which made the tv show an instant classic.
Christian Cooke stars as Freddie Taylor, a teenager making the awkward transition from care-free adolescent to responsible adult and discovering that grown-up life is not all it's cracked up to be. Making the journey more difficult are his two best friends,  Bruce (Tom Hughes) a rebel without a cause who has issues with his drunkard father, and the halfwitted Snork (Jack Doolan) who possesses all the social graces of a hungry goat.
It's a familiar scenario and one that Gervais and Merchant add nothing new to. The plot is a collection of well worn incidents (conflict with the parents, conflict with close friends, conflict with the law, first serious love, disillusion with first proper job etc) played out by a bunch of two dimensional characters for whom there's no incentive to develop any affection. 
Not content with co-writing, co-producing and co-directing the film Gervais also co-stars as Freddie's dad, giving himself lines that sound more like part of a stand-up routine than words spoken by a character in a drama. I get the impression that Gervais has not yet got to grips with the concept of playing a character other than himself and it shatters the illusion that we're watching a drama. He makes some amusing observations but they're out of place in the context of the story.
After three films as a star actor Gervais is still searching for the key to unlock his talent and personality on the big screen and CEMETERY JUNCTION demonstrates he's no closer to finding it. This is more disappointing than "The Invention of Lying" which was worse than "Ghost Town." 
In reviewing that film I wrote that he risked becoming the Steve Martin of his generation. On the basis of CEMETERY JUNCTION I fear that Steve Coogan is a more appropriate comparison.