ONE OF THE cinematic highlights of British cinema in 2010 was The Trip, the frequently hilarious pairing of Steve Coogan and Rob Brydon as competitive middle-aged luvvies touring the Yorkshire countryside on a gastronomic odyssey while riffing on life, love and the arts.
So the arrival this week of The Trip to Italy, a sequel of sorts, – only featuring better landscapes and food – is very welcome to moviegoers and finds Brydon and Coogan again in veteran form.
This particular trip sticks to the same template as the original – Coogan as insecure star and Brydon as family man, although their personalities are somewhat inverted – Brydon is a little less likable and, in a surprise twist is the one who actually gets the girl – in this case a gentle English tour guide (Rosie Fellner). And as the film progresses it is Brydon whose career looks hotter – he gets offered a part in a Michael Mann film – while Coogan tries to forge a better relationship with his teenage daughter.
The movie opens with Coogan in Los Angeles wrapping up a TV show, and Brydon calling to tell him he’s been hired by the Observer to do another round of food and travel pieces. Coogan shakes off his initial reluctance and worry about the general inferiority of sequels and the pair are soon tooling round Piedmont in an open-top mini and – in a repeated riff that comes thanks to a malfunctioning iPod jack – are forced to listen to their one CD – Alanis Morissette’s 1995 album “Jagged Little Pill”.
It doesn’t take long for this (lightly) cultured twosome to start comparing themselves to another pair of British travelers to Italy from two centuries earlier – Percy Shelley and Lord Byron – but instead of swapping rhyming couplets the pair share dueling celebrity impressions, with Michael Caine again prominently featured, and an especially hilarious riff on the impenetrable accents of Christian Bale and Tom Hardy in “The Dark Knight Rises”. And since we’re in Italy, Brydon’s Al Pacino gets plenty of play as well.
As the pair proceed through Campania to Rome and onto Pompeii director Michael Winterbottom does an assured job wrapping us in a warm and slightly bittersweet cloak of humor, reflection amid a stunning backdrop. Like the original ‘Trip’ – and some of the mouth-wateringly photographed food they eat – The Trip to Italy will leave you hungry for more.
‘The Trip to Italy’ IFC Films. Directed by Michael Winterbottom. Written by Michael Winterbottom, Steve Coogan and Rob Brydon. Starring Steve Coogan, Rob Brydon, Rosie Fellner. 106 mins. Not rated.
