Comparitive Study- David Brent Life on The Road and Toy Story 4

I just watched 2 films that were essentially the same movie within 24 hours;
 
They are remarkably similar-
Both are Road Movies,
Both feature a protagonist who is delusional and clinging onto their past
Both are chasing a dream they cannot fulfill
Both are late 90s/ early 2000s characters that were brought back (actually that is every film these days)
Both are Comedies,
Both follow the hero’s journey plot structure
 
Except there is one big difference- one is really good and one is amusing but clumsily executed.
 
Woody and David Brent are rather different characters- but essentially in these films, they have the same Hero's journey;

Brent
 
[call to adventure] Brent, former reality TV star- is now just a sales rep. But most importantly he feels he is ‘too good’ to simply be a sales rep, because he has (in his mind) all the skills required to be a professional entertainer [acceptance of call]
 
Brent:
I like making people feel, more importantly. Comedy, music, poetry, philosophy, whatever, you know. I get inside your head. Maybe get inside your heart.
 
[rising action] So he overpays session muscians and a sound engineer to go on tour with him, booking venues and hotels along the way, blowing his pension fund. [defeat, death and rebirth] Over the course of the movie he tries too hard to achieve something that will never happen, the gigs are poorly attended and record companies are not interested in him- all the while holding back his more talented protégé Dom Johnson (Ben Bailey Smith). His band essentially ignore him and abandon him socially. By the end of the film, he realises that his pretence and refusal to listen to anyone else was the problem-
 
Dan:
You seem to think that unless you're on stage performing, that people aren't gonna like you. They're probably not. Well, then why would you wanna be liked by people like that anyway? You know, you don't have to be on stage to be worth something. And people who like you are still gonna like you even if you're not performing.
 
Brent
Problem is not a lot of people like me,
do they?
 
[atonement] By the end Brent gains a bit of self-esteem, sees the more talented Dom get a record deal. [journey home]  he returns to his office and unspectacularly finds love with a woman from the office, who liked him before he was a ‘rock star’- the only person who was nice to him in the first place. [new normal]

Woody
[call to adventure] Woody, no longer a favourite toy but used to being in charge of the playroom, devotes himself to protecting ‘forky’ a spork that his owner, Bonnie has created in her first day at Kindergarten- the only thing that helped her through the day.

​Woody
Being there for a child is the most noble thing a toy can do.
 
[rising action]Forky, however, thinks he is ‘trash’ and keeps trying to jump into the bin, Woody devotes himself to preventing this. Bonnie’s parents take her on a road trip and Woody at every turn, has to try and stop forky throwing himself away.
 
Forky
[I am Trash] Useless. Like your purpose has been filled.
 
The irony is that it is in fact Woody whose purpose has been fulfilled, but he cannot accept it (like David Brent can’t accept he will never be a rock star)
 
Forky eventually jumps out a moving RV and Woody follows him… they end up in an antique shop because Woody, still holding on to the past, thinks he sees Bo Peep (a Toy he used to live with) and Forky ends up being taken hostage by a doll (Gabby) with a broken voice box, and being held ransom for Woody’s working voice box. [defeat, death and rebirth] Woody finds Bo Peep, who is now a ‘Lost toy’ and mounts un successful mission to save Forky- at the end of this, he tries to re- enter the antique shop, but the other toys tell him to just give up, he cannot defeat Gabby.
 
[atonement] Woody admits that saving Forky is ‘all I have left’ (can’t get the quote, the film only just came out! He remeets Gabby and we realise she is not the villain, but simply a doll desperate for a child to be there for (which Woody, if you remember, is all about) Woody sacrifices his voice box for Gabby to get Forky back
[journey home]Woody, on the verge of returning to the RV with all his friends, suddenly realises Bonnie doesn’t need him anyway (he’s (full)filled his purpose.) and descides to stay with Bo Peep as she now emotionally needs him.
[new normal]Woody, like Brent, has found love, has a new level of self esteem- seeing people will love/ like him for different things than he thought.
 ​

I guess all films revolve around a protagonist coming to a realisation, but having watched these so close together, they just seemed so similar.
 
With Toy Story 4 there is a much deeper element; the notion of being thrown away and becoming junk (the plastic spork, the antique shop, the defective toy, the toy that a child no longer plays with). Woody is now not wanted by Bonnie, he is desperately trying to remain important, but its over and he needs to learn to accept this. The audience eventually realise Woody is trying too hard, but that is because he has always been right the previous movies so they route for him, and then feel sorry for him- thus when Bo Peep loves him for who he is, not what he is trying to be, it is a beautiful ending.
 
David Brent is not really wanted anywhere; most people he works with think he is irritating, he is desperately trying to be an entertainer, but needs to accept it is over- this is clear from the start of the film, there are no overarching themes or subtle storytelling, the audience know Brent is a joke and they laugh at him accordingly. Yes, he has something of a resolution and the audience are happy that he has found a potential date who likes him for who he is, but has he earned this?
 
Both films are funny, both are entertaining, but only 1 is going to make people cry and cheer… and it’s not Life on The Road