The Trip

In 2005 Michael Winterbottom directed Steve Coogan and Rob Brydon in the brilliant film 'Tristram Shandy: A Cock & Bull Story'. He brings his two stars back, as themselves, for a trip around the north of England.

Michael Winterbottom is a brilliantly diverse director. He seems to make so many films and is great at them all. Films like this are really interesting. Steve and Rob are supposed to be playing themselves and you begin to wonder how close they are to playing their real selves. Where does the line of reality begin and end. That is part of the fun for the film for me as you wonder which bits, if any, are true. It is very much a film about the friendship between Steve and Rob. It is part of the new genre known as the bromantic comedy. While they are not entirely friendly to each other they still get along really well. Rob may take a bit more of Steve's insults as he knows Steve is joking. There was a film a while back called 'My Dinner With Andre', this film is much like that except instead of two guys talking in one restaurant it is set in several restaurants. As a result the success rests on the chemistry between the two men and the topics they talk about. Steve and Rob definitely have the chemistry and they talk about some funny stuff. The funniest moments come from their rivalry over who does the best impressions. Rob is clearly the best but Steve tries but is not quite as good and thats where the fun comes from. The other star of the film is the food that they eat at the various restaurants they visit. The restaurants are very posh so the food looks beautiful and could make you hungry.

Another tricky thing about having actors play themselves is that your never too sure how good their performances are. How much of themselves are they playing and how much is acting. Steve Coogan is a brilliant comedy performer and he is hilarious in this film. He also gets a nice subplot about his relationship with his girlfriend which is quite touching. Rob Brydon is equally as funny and is a brilliant impressionist. His 'tiny man in a box routine' is comedy gold.

Two guys on a road trip across the north of England may not sound like a very exciting premise but when you have a brilliant cast like Steve and Rob you have comedy gold.