Seriously,
does anything go better with spicy seafood than Roger Moore impressions? They’re
in Spain, you see. The Moors, Roger Moore. Get it? You will if you join Steve
Coogan and Rob Brydon for another culinary jaunt in Michael Winterbottom’s The Trip to Spain, which screens again
today at the 2017 Tribeca Film Festival.
Steve
Coogan is still Steve Coogan and Rob Brydon is still Rob Brydon. Coogan was
always the more famous one, but that is especially true now that he is riding
high on the success of the ridiculously overrated Philomena. However, despite his professional frustrations, Brydon appears
to be the happier one. It would be more accurate to say the loving father and
sort of faithful husband is somewhat happy, whereas the emotionally unfulfilled
Coogan is really just miserable. Of course, we are talking about their Trip franchise analogs, not the real
comedians, right?
Regardless,
Brydon and Coogan are together again, following up their restaurant tours of Italy
and the North of England with a saunter through Spain. This time, Brydon will
do the newspaper reviews, while Coogan takes notes for a self-indulgent book.
Of course, Coogan brings up Philomena every
chance he gets. His digs at Brydon also seem less good-natured, but his Welsh counterpart
largely lets them roll off his back. After all, this is a good gig for the
working-class celebrity.
Once
again, the two bickering friends mine comedy gold from their dueling celebrity
impressions. Coogan is also quite the good sport allowing Brydon and
Winterbottom to deflate his pomposity for comic effect. There is no question
Coogan and Brydon dominate this Trip,
just like they did previous installments of the UK television series/US film
franchise. However, Kyle Soller scores a lot of laughs in his scene-stealing
cameo as Coogan’s ex-American agent.
All
three Trips are consistently funny
films, but they also offer a bittersweet, deeply humanistic portrayal of
middle-age and its related insecurities. Frankly, the trilogy makes us willing
to forgive Coogan for What Goes Up,
whereas Brydon still has plenty of good credit accrued from his voice-work in
the Julia Donaldson animated specials (The
Gruffalo, Room on the Broom). Recommended like the return of a slightly
balmy old friend that always raises your spirits, The Trip to Spain screens again tonight (4/24), as part of this
year’s Tribeca Film Festival.