In his third feature as a writer-director, “Special Correspondents,” comedian Ricky Gervais goes heavy on insults directed at himself. Practically every joke that concerns Gervais in this movie consists of him making an unflattering reference to his physical appearance (“Apparently I’m 25% fat … it’s more than some snacks,” he says), or his hunky sidekick Frank (Eric Bana) making an even more unflattering reference to his physical appearance, to which Gervais’s character always agrees. This attempt at self-awareness finally feels too much like self-loathing to be anywhere close to funny.
Gervais offers up a plot as contrived as that toothy “savage grin” he often uses and falls back on as a performer.