The Trip (8/10)

Well, unless you're a avid follower of the indie movie scene and from England, I bet you haven't heard of this one.  Some American readers might recognize Steve Coogan from big budget films such as Tropic Thunder and The Other Guys, but neither men have had any lead roles in American-produced films.  And that's about it for recognizable names or titles associated with The Trip as far as the American audience is concerned.


Plot:
This film documents Coogan and Brydon, both playing themselves, on a week-long tour of England's finest restaurants hosted by The Observer magazine.  Steve was originally offered the trip and planned to take his girlfriend, but after she drops the trip last minute, Steve is forced to take his long-time, yet fairly distant friend Rob.


My Thoughts:
Since the film's plot is literally roaming around England for a week sampling food from exclusive restaurants, there really isn't much going on.  The focus here is obviously the friendship of Steve and Rob.


Steve and Rob's interactions, which are virtually the entire film, are very entertaining, and, I must admit, get much better as the film goes on.  It is a little slow at the beginning, but once they are a day or two into their week-long trip, their interactions are just brilliant.  They will impress you, make you laugh, switch to deep topics, then give smart insights on the life of fame and enduring the mid-life crisis all in a very real way, as if you're sitting in the back seat of their (pricy) Range Rover roaming the hills of northern England with them.  I had never seen a film like it before.


There is a lot about this film that I respect, specifically in its uniqueness and unconventional method of movie-making.  First off, there was NO script.  As far as we know, at least.  About 90% of the movie is witty, entertaining, yet very real dialogue between Steve and Rob that was entirely improve. The second aspect that I admire, is that both actors are playing as themselves, but exaggerated forms of themselves, (that'd be kinda weird to do, wouldn't it?)  Steve is a hurting man that's desperately holding onto an over-sized ego, even when all of his life situations at present do not justify one.  He vents these feelings with a very negative, low tolerance attitude towards Rob.  Rob, in contrast, plays a slightly socially awkward, yet happy man who loves his life, with a steady family and decent income.  Both of their characters are truly them with their own personality, but with fictional life situations that both Steve and Rob let influence their natural character.  Not very many actors have attempted something like that, and Steve Coogan and Rob Brydon not only attempted it, but they did it extremely well.


Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed this charming film, and would recommend it to anyone looking for something a little different, yet still wants a good laugh and an occasional deep thought.

Rating:  8/10