|
Reviews of Recent Independent, Foreign, & Documentary Films in Theaters and DVD/Home Video
THE TRIP
The new film takes the two British actors out on the open road for little more than a series of skits that involve the aforementioned Michael Caine impressions among others, including Sylvester Stallone, Al Pacino, and Woody Allen, each funnier than the last. Oh, there’s some backstory about Coogan being sent on the excursion by a newspaper, ostensibly to write reviews of Lake District eateries. Since Coogan is currently experiencing a rough patch with both his American girlfriend and his career, he invites his old pal, Brydon, to join him. Brydon, happy to be asked, comes along despite having to leave his wife and toddler behind. The competitive tension between the two friends is what elevates this movie from your average cable TV series, which is exactly its genesis. The six-part mini-series, a recent BBC hit, has been edited, rather successfully so, to a 100-plus breezy minutes. Both men are clearly burdened by their insecurities but wear them quite differently. It’s that difficulty in understanding each other’s issues that gives the comedy such welcomed depth. Coogan is ambitiously pursuing a larger movie career in the States. The phone calls with his agent and his girlfriend depresses him, and he numbs his anxiety by sleeping with the lovely women with whom he crosses paths, one an ex he can’t even remember. Meanwhile, puppy dog Rob is less focused on his career, going about happily as a B-list celebrity. He clearly enjoys aggravating Steve with his complacency and slightly better mimicking abilities. Does
Steve get his big studio picture? Does he patch things up with his young
lovely across the pond? To delve into these details is beside the point.
Winterbottom, the most prolific director working today—with the possible
exception of Woody Allen—is clearly having a blast with The Trip.
After a series of heavy films including
The Killer Inside Me and
A Mighty Heart, The Trip is a welcome lark.
Adam Schartoff
|
“She was… only… 16… years old.” These words are
spoken over lunch by Steve Coogan and Rob Brydon during a duel of
dead-on Michael Caine impersonations. Dueling is the operative word
here. Michael Winterbottom’s new trifle of a film is the very unlikely
follow-up to his 2006 comedy Tristram Shandy: A Cock and Bull Story,
which was a meta-adaptation of Laurence Sterne’s 18th century novel.
Continuing to play variations of themselves, Coogan and Brydon reprise
their roles from that earlier film in The Trip.