By Alexei Summers (The Cascade) – Email
Print Edition: January 25, 2012
The Trip is a film that explores the intricacies of life through a melodious mixture of laughter and drama. It is bittersweet in every sense of the word. A true dramedy. Its dialogue is both witty and entertaining without displaying pretentiousness that is often so present in independent films.
The film stars actor Steve Coogan and actor/comedian Rob Brydon, portrayed as loosely-based fictionalized versions of themselves. The plot is simple and refined: it is the tale of two friends—both actors—driving from restaurant to restaurant in the North of England, doing a traveling review piece for the newspaper The Observer. These portrayals of themselves are revisited from an earlier film entitled Cock and Bull Story, also directed by the same director of The Trip, Michael Winterbottom.
The Trip is hilarious. It is full of wonderful impressions and conversations. Brydon and Coogan compliment one another’s dry, deadpan United Kingdom humour delivering nonstop conversation that is fascinating to watch. The art of vocal impressions of famous actors is a complex one. This is best exemplified in the scene when Brydon does his impression of the famous English actor Michael Caine and he and Coogan argue over exactly what Caine sounds like – and who does the best impression. If the viewer’s eyes were closed, Brydon’s impression would be easily confused with the real thing. Other notable impressions performed include Woody Allen, Sir Sean Connery, Roger Moore, Al Pacino and Hugh Grant – to name a few.
The music accompanying the film is heart-wrenching and cold – much like the landscape that backdrops their travels. It echoes through wet English moors as Coogan’s burnt-out actor character stumbles around trying to find a small spot with cell reception so he can speak to his ex-girlfriend or his son. It builds a true sense of loneliness and desolation as the wind blows and the piano strikes its sad monochromatic notes, relaying to us of the loss that this character has felt. All the tragedy is with Coogan’s character, as Brydon’s is more chipper and constantly wise-cracking. He provides contrast between the life of a man falling apart, and the life of a man who—while he might not have all the answers—certainly has some things figured out.
The film is scenic, and the English countryside is beautiful as the two meander through it in their automobile road trip – and it is a road trip film in every classical sense of the genre. The Trip is a barrage of laughter punctuated by moments of true humanity. The comedy is perfect when combined with the drama of the fictional Coogan’s life. Winterbottom wonderfully executes the fitting dichotomy of loneliness versus humour, and as the saying goes – laughter is the best medicine.
