Screen Daily by Graham Fuller

Perversely pleasurable, it works on its own self-conscious terms, though not all audiences will appreciate its English brand of sad-sack humour.

New York Daily News by Edward Douglas

Some viewers may be surprised by how good Bana is doing comedy. Same with Farmiga, but that allows Gervais to leave some of the heavier lifting as far as acting to his co-stars. Gervais has again done a solid job writing and directing his own material.

Screen International by Graham Fuller

Perversely pleasurable, it works on its own self-conscious terms, though not all audiences will appreciate its English brand of sad-sack humour.

Entertainment Weekly by Kevin P. Sullivan

What Gervais may have previously turned into a pointed satire of the news media instead becomes a flimsy farce that’s surprisingly low on laughs.

The A.V. Club by Ignatiy Vishnevetsky

The more Special Correspondents skirts bad taste — by having the heroes record an ISIS-inspired ransom tape, for instance — the closer it gets to having something to say about mass media and geopolitics.

The Guardian by Peter Bradshaw

Special Correspondents shows that Gervais has a plausible Hollywood career, but there’s a baffling lack of real laughs and performance chemistry between the leads, and very little of the acid characterisation and cynical discomfort which is vital to his screen presence.

Variety by Nick Schager

Gervais’ tale is primarily consumed with middle-of-the-road squabbling between its headliners, whose yin-yang chemistry never results in more than a few chuckle-worthy bon mots.

TheWrap by Dan Callahan

[Gervais] abandons all sharp edges and serves up a bland, toothless picture that isn’t particularly scathing and doesn’t have anything much to say, even though the basic premise might have allowed for some satirical jabs at journalism and politics.

Slant Magazine by Chuck Bowen

Ricky Gervais's film hopscotches through a variety of premises, looking for jokes that never arrive.

IndieWire by David Ehrlich

Special Correspondents is more about smirking sideways than it is laughing out loud, but it doesn't provoke much of either — it's one thing for Gervais to subdue his usual bark, but his bite has never been softer.

The Hollywood Reporter by Keith Uhlich

It's never fun watching a comedian's shrewdness ossify into shtick. Yet whatever incisiveness Ricky Gervais once had (and he had plenty, if The Office and Extras are any indication) is barely evident in the new Netflix-released satire Special Correspondents