When Steve Coogan is asked by the British newspaper The Observer to tour the England countryside and review its finest restaurants, he envisions it as the perfect getaway with his beautiful girlfriend. But, when she him and goes to America, he goes through a list of friends and acquaintances and decides to ask his best friend Rob Brydon, an irritating but really talented mimic.
The two men have been friends for 11 years, and you can see their attraction to each other: they like and know the same songs, recite the same poetry and lines from movies, imitate the same famous actors, and enjoy getting under each other’s skin. Their personal lives are very different: Steve is divorced with a teenage son while Rob is happily married with a new baby. Steve “takes aim” at any woman in sight while Rob can only wait to get home to his wife.
In real life Coogan is most well-known for his British television character Alan Partridge, the awkward and politically incorrect regional media personality. Brydon is a stand-up comedian, BBC radio show panelist, actor and writer. Both starred in Tristram Shandy: a Cock and Bull Story, directed by Michael Winterbottom, who also directed The Trip.
Three things make this film a joy to watch. First: the rapport between the two actors/characters, which shows a real depth and caring in their friendship, even as it strains to the breaking point. Second: the preparation, presentation and discussion of the food in some of the most highly rated restaurants in England. Third: the breathtaking views of the Lake District and the North of England. A visit to Wordsworth’s Dove Cottage and Samuel Taylor Coleridge’s exotic Greta Hall are a bonus.
The Trip is just over two hours long, and there may be just a bit too many imitations of Sean Connery. And there’s a moment when you’re relieved that Rob finally tells Steve to just shut up. That scene is followed by a wonderful one in which Steve can’t shut up a hiker trying to explain the landscape in the same boring, factual detail the he’s just done to Rob. It’s wonderful. And so is this movie.
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