THE TRIP, eat, drive, eat, drive
Cast: Steve Coogan and Rob Brydon
Directed by: Michael Winterbottom
MPAA Rating: Not Rated
Genre: British Comedy
Running time: 1hr 47min
Distributed by: IFC films
By John Delia
Corny and blathering The Trip documents a dining trip taken by comic Steve Coogan and impressionist Rob Brydon as they travel across the north face of England. Sometimes funny but mostly droll, the movie will probably not be appreciated by Americans unless they are decedents of Great Britain and understand why it is funny.
Here is the description of the film by the filmmaker; When Steve Coogan is asked by The Observer (A newspaper in London) to tour the country’s finest restaurants, he envisions it as the perfect getaway with his beautiful girlfriend. But, when she backs out on him, he has no one to accompany him but his best friend and source of eternal aggravation, Rob Brydon. As the brilliant comic duo, free styling with flair, drive each other mad with constant competition and showdowns of competing impressions (including dueling Michael Caines, Sean Connerys and Al Pacinos), the ultimate odd couple realize in the end a rich amount about not only good food, but the nature of fame, relationships and their own lives.
Now, I don’t know how many of you know Steve Coogan (Ershon in The Other Guys, Hades in Percy Jackson & the Olympians: The Lightning Thief, Octavis in Night At The Museum, and Phileas Fogg in Around the World in 80 Days) but the aforementioned movie titles should give you a clue. He has starred in many British TV shows and is well known on British Late Night and on US’s Late Night with Conan O’Brien. So if you like the films or happen to like British humor, then that’s a good reason to see this film.
Rob Brydon has a huge following as a Television star in Britain appearing on over 50 shows. In this film his comedy surrounds his ability to imitate famous actors and notables with a lot of tongue in cheek remarks. Not having witnessed his comedy prior to this film was probably why I couldn’t connect with why he kept interjecting famous voices whenever Coogan got the best of him.
I couldn’t tell whether the cinematography was purposefully deplorable or Northern England has to be the dankest part of the earth. Shots of even the more meaningful dining spots are so dimly lit that Coogan and Brydon loose all their expressiveness during the comical chat.Â
I was not impressed with the film as I found it boring, unimaginative, and not very funny. The impressions of Michael Caine are good by both, but after ‘replaying’ the voice so many times in the film it becomes inane. Maybe I am not a big lover of British Comedy; after all I don’t get Curb Your Enthusiasm, but I love Monty Python and Peter Sellers.
The Trip is not rated and should be left that way. Although it is billed as a comedy be forewarned that Coogan and Brydon are professional Brits and do not pretend to be otherwise.
FINAL ANALYSIS: See it only if you know what’s in bangers and mash. (D)
Please direct comments to: jdelia@yeticket.com
Follow us on TWITER/yeticket, yeticket@yeticket.com, FACEBOOK/yeticket