Special Correspondents

"Special" is defined as "better, greater, or otherwise different from what is usual." It's the "otherwise different from what is usual" that applies to the "special" in SPECIAL CORRESPONDENTS. Frank (Eric Bana) is a hack New York radio journalist. Ian (Ricky Gervais) is a broadcast techie. Together they are sent to cover an imminent rebellion in Ecuador, which is a big deal for a small, local station. After the decent but hopelessly uncool Ian mistakenly tosses the tickets, passports, and funds into a garbage truck, it's either return from the airport to the radio station and suffer certain humiliation or hole up in some friends' New York restaurant and send fake radio bulletins on the war, complete with jungle, explosion, and enemy-fire sound effects. They choose the latter. This leads to the necessity for many other lies, most audaciously one about their kidnapping by rebel forces. Ian's wife (Vera Farmiga) left him after cheating on him with Frank on the eve of their departure. At the news of his capture, she goes on a talk show self-promotion tour that results in a record contract and a hit song about raising ransom money for heroes. It does well on iTunes. Eventually, the duo must smuggle themselves into Ecuador to extricate themselves from the mess. Drug dealers capture them for real this time, and their escape requires lots of shooting.