The Trip

"It's 2010, everything's been done before. All you can do is do something someone has done and do it better or different"

Two-handed mockumentary in which Steve Coogan and Rob Brydon adlib their way through a broad range of topics - covering food, the craft of acting, the nature of fame, culture, their careers and their age, and the point of knowledge. Brydon and Coogan play gently fictionalised versions of themselves, embarking on a culinary tour of the countryside whilst indulging their passion for impersonating other famous people (Michael Caine, Al Pacino, etc). It's a fairly low-key affair, adapted from a six-part television series, and touches on grander ideas of the human condition through some rather wonderful and organic performances from two highly talented comic-actors.

Brydon and Coogan are great together, playing words games and riffing on their shared knowledge. I will say that this may only appeal to people who are fans of Brydon and Coogan. If you have any distaste or antipathy for these two guys then you may find the film a bit trying. Coogan, for instance, plays his usual persona - a combination of arrogant obnoxiousness and amusing selfishness. I guess it's that thing where life imitates art and vice versa, with Coogan blurring the line between his body of acting work and his life. Brydon on the other hand is a happier chap, exemplifying the glass half-full approach in contrast to Coogan's pessimism. There's a heavy element of self-deprecation in both of their performances, with Coogan's taking on a certain air of sadness that borders on the uncomfortable. Coogan is evidently a man who strives for greatness but frequently meets disappointment, he idolises the great poets and worries about his status. In sharp opposition to this is his friend Rob Brydon, who is quite happy to be a jobbing actor in a smaller pond.

Coogan's complexity is perhaps best seen in the sequence where he calls his long-distance girlfriend. She's shown in bed, half asleep in the middle of the day, whereas Coogan stands on top of a mountain in the small hours of the morning, shouting to get through the bad reception. It feels acutely like he's the one trying desperately to make this relationship work, and yet we then cut to a scene where Coogan's infidelity has spilled over into a one night stand. Maybe it helps to know Coogan's past work in television and film... if this film is anything to go by, he's evidently a highly flawed individual fighting a losing battle against fame and glory. The presence of Brydon allows for this to be explored through their contrasting attitudes and home lives. They're two friends who've taken two different paths in show business, one stays in Britain and has a loving family, whereas the other chases stardom in America and lives in a silent, empty house - having sacrified domestic happiness in exchange for that elusive greatness.

I've made it sound quite melancholy and bittersweet, and it is, but it's also very funny due to the level of wit these two comedians bring to what is essentially an unscripted film. They bounce off each other, take liberties and indulge themselves, and it becomes a suprising work of drama due to the inner truths they reveal. Don't go into it with big comedic expectations, just let it unfold and watch these guys work.

DIRECTOR: Michael Winterbottom
WRITER/SOURCE: There wasn't actually a script, it was improvised by the director and two leads. See related texts.
KEY ACTORS: Steve Coogan, Rob Brydon, Claire Keelan, Margo Stilley, Kerry Shale, Ben Stiller

RELATED TEXTS:
- The film is basically the edited highlights of a six part television series also called The Trip.
- This film/TV series was conceived as a continuation of Winterbottom's previous collaboration with Coogan and Brydon, Tristram Shandy: A Cock and Bull Story.
- For a more 'fictionalised' version of this sort of thing, see the film Sideways.
- For other improv-based mockumentaries, see the American comedies This is Spinal Tap, Waiting for Guffman, Best in Show, A Mighty Wind and For Your Consideration. Also see the direct British equivalent of these, Confetti.