The Trip to Italy

I was hesitant taking another trip w/ Steve and Rob in that I so much loved the first film and thought this film might be a letdown and was never going to expectations set by the first film. No need for worries, this film was just as good, just as funny and better still, both Steve and Rob have remained (aside from Coogan's haircut) them old selves, changing little from when we left them in Northern England, a perfect mixture of affability and arrogance, quick witted, sometimes to the point of absurdity, sprinkled with a tinge of melancholy.

If you love British humour, travel & beautiful scenery, fine food, movies, literature and poetry, and beautiful women......(pretty much all things worth living for)... than this is the movie to watch.

Steve: (looking at a beautiful hotel receptionist walking past) She's has a lovely gait.

Rob: Yes, probably padlocked.

Hilarious!

If you liked The Trip, you will like this one, as it is basically the same movie. The same people, the same jokes, the same outdoors and food shots. The only thing that changed is that instead of 44, they are now closer to 50. Their hair is more gray and less. How they relate to the world has changed, children grew up. And, of course, they're in Italy.

To me, one of the failings of the film is that it doesn't really portray the places so well. I understand it's a character piece, but by limiting the surroundings, they also make the movie feel more like a play, diminished in scope, if not in meaning.

Still, if you watched The Trip and wanted more, watch this, too.

After laughing along with Brydon and Coogan savaging their own vanities and all of life around them, I found some of the reviews here to be more comical than the film. It's as if "The Trip to Italy" totally escapes them, probably much to the two main actors' amusement. The beauty of the ridiculous and sometimes lame impressions belies that the two are not trying to be serious travel/food hosts but two comics riffing on the idiocy of the business they are in .. and much more. This is satire, not some boring Anthony Bourdain exploration of food and culture. It's two goofy guys making fun of themselves. That so many people miss that simple point boggles my mind.

I'm a huge fan of Michael Winterbottom's work which is fully on display in this modest travel journal of two friends discovering the joys of Italy. Steve Coogan & Rob Brydon, the friends in question, I'll admit are an acquired taste; one that I've not yet...acquired. I kept resisting the urge to just mute the sound so I didn't have to listen to their inane, extremely irritating, babblings was only because Strauss and Mahler were used expertly on the soundtrack. And who would want to miss that? The food, the scenery and an undefined longing are all very appealing. But the self-centered mugging by the two, which we're clued to think is adorable by women, I just think needs a warning to any viewer. Try to shut them out. 'Cause they never shut up.

This is a real smart movie.. Taking your rhythm and anxiety to a very peaceful zone, restore your serinity.. I admit, it's a bit boring.. But this is the idea.. Sort of relaxation you should surrender to the stream and give up your regular thoughts about love, sex, excitement, show Biz, etc.. Just let the sun shine on your face. I encourage to make it series movies, but don't be so specific in the dialogue to movie biz, make it more rich to suit other people and different occasions.. Maintain the slow rhythm and ambience.. No music is a good idea.. Nature and scenes are suburb and sufficient glamorous.. Great GREAT!! I FOUND MYSELF PAYING FULL ATTENTION DURING THE PLAY..