By Mark HadleyTuesday 12 Jul 2011MoviesReading Time: 2 minutes
The Trip
RATING: MA 15+
DISTRIBUTOR: Madman
RELEASE DATE: June 30
I don’t know why but I always get a little nervous when my wife picks the film we’re going to watch. It’s not that she has a habit of selecting stinkers, just that she’s much more comfortable with the obscure and the fringe production than I am. Time and again I’m staring at blockbuster posters and she suggests we should see something unheard of out of Denmark. The Trip is just the sort of film that would capture her attention: a mockumentary about two friends going on a restaurant tour across northern England. Sounds uninspiring, I know, and unlikely to engage most husbands on a Saturday night. But if my wife was to point to it and say, “I think this would be something special,” she’d be right – again.
The Trip is a film by Michael Winterbottom (24 Hour Party People, A Mighty Heart) starring veteran British comedian Steve Coogan. Coogan plays himself, a jaded celebrity who has seen better days and is now writing guest reviews for The Observer. His marriage has broken up over a series of infidelities and just as he is about to embark on an eating tour of England he discovers that his latest girlfriend would rather be in New York. Rather than go on a series of dinners-for-one, he decides to take his painfully honest friend Rob Brydon (also playing himself). As they wend their way from entrée to dessert, Coogan discovers that a solid relationship is more satisfying than any soufflé.
The Trip wanders between drama and documentary as it investigates real-life menus and the imagined problems of Coogan’s on-screen ego. The rather high rating was earned for a very few instances of strong, coarse language so be prepared. But on the whole it’s full of the sort of humour that guys will instinctively recognise, centering on oft-repeated one-liners and quick quips. A depressed Coogan warns Brydon, “You can’t treat your entire life like a Radio 4 panel show!” To which he replies, “Buzzzz – yes you can?”
But just when you think the film is going to get lost in another series of boy’s jokes, up pops a profound observation about Coogan’s pointless existence. He has the most successful career by far, but why is Brydon happier? Because though he might not enjoy international fame, he has worked one thing out: man was not meant to be alone, and the best relationship is one that is built upon serving someone else’s needs above your own.