Review of The Trip (2011) by Spencer S — 01 Nov 2011

If you are not familiar with the British television show or anything about the comedy stylings of Steve Coogan and Rob Brydon's teaming, then do not watch this without becoming properly informed. Without seeing the film preceding it or the show I didn't think I could review this at first.

That all changed when I watched the trailer, which shows me a different movie, a more witty, road trip movie between buds, a general give and take, a cute repertoire between two friends on a road trip that holds a lot of potential for comedic material.

British humor is so often understated, cheeky and broad. The reason I don't laud it as the end all be all, the sophisticated brand among the ghastly shock value of America, is that sometimes it takes me time just to tell whether they're trying to make me uncomfortable or make me laugh.

It's almost like a secret they're hiding from me. Coogan has before made me belly laugh in Hamlet 2, Tropic Thunder, and his brief stint in The Other Guys. These fictionalized versions of the two are uncomfortable to watch, but more so it was merely depressing.

The storyline wasn't so much a ragtag voyage for two longtime buddies, but a chance for them to do endless impressions that brink on nauseating. I did love the heartfelt moments, the scope of Coogan's persona's endless isolation and ill will for his personal life and career, mostly putting all his hopes on a girl who obviously doesn't want him.

Brydon has a family, a sweet wife and baby, so all his antics resemble that of the village idiot, while Coogan's are that of a narcissist. It's a sweet look of two celebrities without restraint in a comedy of them and their lives, but I'm not sure what the message was, or if I was truly entertained and just moved by the consideration of human tragedies.