The Trip to Italy

At the beginning of The Trip to Italy, a sequel to the great The Trip, Steve Coogan discusses "second album" syndrome, when the follow-up record almost always disappoints, because a group had their whole lives to put into the first product, and the second has high expectations. That's a bit of meta in this wonderful film, which fortunately does not suffer from this syndrome. It's just more of the same, and it's terrific.

But Coogan, with Rob Brydon and Michael Winterbottom, haven't simply repeated themselves. Sure, the set-up is the same: Coogan and Brydon, friends sort of, are off again to review restaurants, but this time it's Brydon writing the articles and it's in Italy (it seems to be suggested that Brydon ended up writing the articles that Coogan was hired for in The Trip). One look at the poster shows the switch: this time it's Coogan who's carefree and Brydon who is tense.

Indeed, "Coogan" has just ended an American TV series and wants to return to England to get closer to his son. Brydon, who was enjoying domestic bliss in The Trip, is itching to let his hair down, "what's left of it." He ends up having an affair with a deckhand of a yacht, and struggles with his feelings. He is also up for a part in an American film, and auditions with a touch of an Al Pacino accent. Coogan is chaste and simply enjoying the ride.

The core of the film is the banter between these two, with many impressions. Their first meal returns to Michael Caine, as he sounded in The Dark Knight films, and then the unintelligibility of Tom Hardy in the same. Later they will masterfully do all the James Bonds (who knew Timothy Dalton could be impersonated?), while Brydon also pulls out his trusty Hugh Grant at opportune moments.

There are other idiosyncrasies that I loved, such as the two deconstructing Alanis Morrisette songs on their journey (Coogan speculates her name comes from her love of Morrissey) and how Brydon keeps riffing even when in Pompeii, talking to a mummified victim with his "small man in the box" voice.

I hope these guys do more of these things until they run out of restaurants to go to. They are great fun and great company. I laughed out loud several times.