In this movie Steve Coogan and Rob Brydon are supposedly playing a version of themselves as they make a journey through the north of Great Britain. Coogan has been asked by The Observer to visit a couple of restaurants to write reviews about them. Originally his girlfriend would join him, but when she backs out of it, he decides to invite Brydon to join him.
Although don’t really know either actor and their work (although I and vaguely remember some movie roles that Coogan did), I had no idea what to expect from this movie. It doesn’t take long before it becomes clear that these men have two very different personalities. Coogan is the one who is constantly chasing success and is looking for extremes (climbing a mountain, getting into bed with the waitresses) and Brydon is the one who is comfortable with himself. He has a family, has his success and doesn’t feel like he has to prove anything.
The two different personalities clash regularly about different type of subjects and can’t wait to outdo each other. This becomes clear in the various impersonations they do, like one where they impersonate Michael Caine. The conversations they have are sometimes very funny (like a conversation they have in the car about the time at which an army should go to battle), but at the same time you feel the tension between the two brewing underneath the surface. It seems that Coogan especially wants to be the best at everything as he secretly tries to do one of Brydon’s voices while he is alone in his hotel room.
The Trip is a movie version of the TV series with the same nae. As I haven’t seen the series I can’t make any comparisons. If you don’t know Brydon and Coogan (like I do) you probably will miss out on a few jokes but there is enough to laugh about. The impersonations though started to get boring after a while though. The environment this movie is shot in is beautiful, just like the food they eat at the various restaurants. The Trip is enjoyable to watch although you have to love this type of humour as the movie doesn’t have a lot of plot.
Score: 7
Hi Nostra, this looks like a hoot, the trailer had me in stitches with the impersonations, esp. Michael Caine who’s an easy target. I’m afraid I might not get all the jokes though, but might still be worth a rental.
Yeah, you should give it a rent. It’s not a typical movie, but feels very personal and small. That’s something I liked a bout it…it’s different.
Apparently Michael Caine is the new Richard Burton – the British actor that everyone impersonates. I can’t even remember what flaws I think this film had, but when both Coogan and Brydon started pulling out the Woody Allen impressions I lost it and laughed.
There were lots of laughs and some impressions were perfect
Coogan and Brydon have a great chemistry together. I’m not sure this is their best work but it is great seeing them on screen together.
Since I don’t know a lot about them, what are things that are worth seeing from them?
its interesting you started to get bored with the impressions. i watched the full tv series back to back and for me they just got funnier.
After a while it felt it just became too much for me. I wanted to see more funny discussions…
Its possible that episodic format made it work better in that sense then. As for more of their work, I love brydon in gavin & stacey and the pairing worked well in tristram shandy also directed by winterbottom.