Review of Grimsby (2016) by Jeff B — 15 Mar 2016

Bourne to Lose, Borat star Sacha Baron Cohen's latest takes aim at the spy genre with sometimes Bond-lessly funny wit but more-oftentimes-than-not unfunny juvenile spit. There is a funny send-up of espionage flicks that stars a proven comedian alongside a suave British counterpart...and this comedy is called Spy. The Brothers Grimsby, on the other hand, makes Johnny English look like the crown jewels of satire. The movie works best when showing blue collar English life, letting Cohen demonstrate his first-rate chops for creating indelibly colorful characters, this one an ale-swilling, home team-loving cockney with 11 kids and a wife who looks remarkably like Rebel Wilson (thankfully for your funny bone, it IS Rebel Wilson). These are refreshing and hilariously profane characters to have a pint with and moviegoers soon wish that the entire story revolved around their spunky but heartfelt slice of pub culture instead of devolving into formulaic shenanigans. When the action (and there's plenty of it) switches into spy mode, however, the audience falls into far more familiar territory.

In this R-rated comedy, a new assignment forces a top spy (Strong) to team up with his long-lost football hooligan brother (Cohen).

Everyone from Peter Sellers to Melissa McCarthy has played an unlikely Everyman/woman stepping into the shoes of a secret agent with funny results. Here, the send-up of spy flicks and all of the tropes that come with it feel remarkably stale. Still, thanks to director Louis Leterrier's ace handling of explosions and fisticuffs as well as Cohen's winning character work, the movie nonetheless keeps your attention...only for an over-abundance of puerile and sophomoric gags to sink this ship that's JUST managing to stay afloat. With modern comedy classic Borat, one tends to think of Cohen, who takes chief credit on the screenplay, as a cerebral comedian who makes us examine our own prejudices and tastes by pushing the envelope. With misguided flop The Brothers Grimsby, one ultimately just tends to think of him as England's answer to Tom Green.

Bottom line: The Pink Punter.