Special Correspondents

News radio journalist Frank Bonneville (Eric Bana) enters a murder scene posing as a cop. Getting the details of the crime, he is removed from the premises and, immediately reports the story live on the radio. Upon returning to the station, he is applauded by colleagues on getting the story first, but his boss Geoffrey Mallard (Kevin Pollak) warns that if he breaks the law one more time, he'll be fired.

That night, everyman Ian Finch (Ricky Gervais), also Frank's sound technician, takes his wife Eleanor (Vera Farmiga) to the station's annual ball, but must leave for a stake-out with co-worker Claire Maddox (Kelly Macdonald). Eleanor then meets Frank, who sleeps with her, unaware she is Finch's wife. The next day, Mallard puts Frank (and Finch) on a story about an uprising in Ecuador.

At first, Finch declines because he needs to try to save his marriage, but he later changes his mind. At the airport, they realize Finch has accidentally thrown their passports and plane tickets in a garbage truck. They return to the city and hide out at a café owned by Spanish couple Brigida and Domingo (America Ferrera and Raúl Castillo), located across from the radio station. With their help, Frank and Finch fake the war reports in their spare room.

After Finch and Frank decide the story needs to be bigger, they invent a man named Emilio Santiago Alvarez, who is elusive and closely linked to the war. The report alerts Washington, who now fear that Frank and Finch are targets for Alvarez's men. Meanwhile, Frank and Finch watch as other media outlets report on Alvarez, including their TV rival John Baker (Benjamin Bratt). Mallard calls Frank, telling them to go to the U.S. embassy in Quito, to be flown home. Panicking that they'll be found out, Frank and Finch destroy their SIM cards to not be traced.

The next morning, Frank fails to check in with Mallard, worrying the station. The media begins reporting on their 'disappearance'. Claire visits Eleanor to offer sympathy, but she seems more interested in getting her story out. Frank and Finch stage a hostage situation, and send a message to the President, demanding a ransom or they will be killed. Later, Frank and Finch watch as Eleanor appears on TV, so Frank finally realises she's Finch's wife. She then performs a song, "Dollar for a Hero", calling for their safe return.

Eleanor subsequently becomes a national sensation, setting up a charity for Finch and Frank. Mallard asks Claire to get to know her, who is using her husband's plight to start a singing career. Finch accepts Eleanor's selfishness, saying he's no longer upset she left him. On his birthday, he admits he can't keep up the charade any longer. Finch and Frank stop off at his apartment to take some of the donated money, but are caught by Eleanor. The three decide to split the cash so everyone can get what they want. The men drive, then sail illegally to Ecuador. They hitch a ride to Quito from a local, stopping first at a rundown bar. There, they are kidnapped and taken to a small village, where they are locked up. Thinking they're going to die, Frank admits he slept with Eleanor.

The next morning, the captors demand ransom from Eleanor but she refuses, telling them to kill Frank and Finch. When a captor returns, planning for them to fight to the death, Frank steals his gun and Finch shoots him. They escape stealing a car, make it to the U.S. embassy, and are flown home by private jet. On their return, they are greeted by the Secretary of State, press, friends and family. Frank makes a speech, and Finch bypasses Eleanor to greet Domingo and Brigida. Eleanor then speaks to the press about her upcoming album, as Finch takes off his wedding ring. He approaches Claire, who he realizes likes him for who he is. The pair happily walk off towards the city together.

• Eric Bana as Frank Bonneville
• Ricky Gervais as Ian Finch
• Vera Farmiga as Eleanor Finch
• Kelly Macdonald as Claire Maddox
• Benjamin Bratt as John Baker
• Kevin Pollak as Geoffrey Mallard
• America Ferrera as Brigida
• Raúl Castillo as Domingo
• Ari Cohen as Rampling
• Meghan Heffern as Virginia
• Mimi Kuzyk as Secretary of State
• Jim Norton as Rent Boy
• Rachael Ancheril as Bar Girl
• Kelly McCormack as Station Accountant

On Rotten Tomatoes the film holds an approval rating of 16% based on 37 reviews, with an average rating of 3.9/10. The site's critical consensus reads: "Feeble writing and two-dimensional characters make Special Correspondents an unsuccessful, embarrassing endeavor for creator Ricky Gervais."[25] Metacritic gives the film a weighted average score of 36 out of 100, based on 14 critics, indicating "generally unfavorable reviews".[26]

Nick Schager of Variety gave the film a negative review, writing, "Ricky Gervais has yet to find another role as perfectly suited to his caustic sensibilities as The Office boss David Brent – or, for that matter, the impishly nasty, trash-talking persona he assumes for his Golden Globes hosting gigs. Special Correspondents doesn't halt that streak, affording him a loser-makes-good part that's as toothless as the rest of the film, about a cocky New York City news radio reporter and meek sound technician who unwittingly fake their way into the national spotlight."[27]

• Special Correspondents at IMDb
• Special Correspondents at Rotten Tomatoes