Good start, but then it gets ruined

Clever, believable, and super fun to watch. It totally has replay value.

Go in cold, and you're likely to emerge with your blood boiling. This has to be seen to be believed.

A great movie, one of the best of this year. There was a bit of confusion at one point in the plot, but nothing serious.

The scant artifice of director Michael Winterbottom's The Trip is beguiling in an Edward Albee, two people sitting on a park bench kind of way. In this case the bench is replaced by some of Northern England's most elegant restaurants and the two people sitting opposite each other more or less play slightly wittier versions of themselves. But unlike an Albee play, The Trip doesn't delight in frankness or extremes. The stakes here are low, the conflicts intimate and sub-textual and the trials that befall our two heroes aren't likely to create much smoke.This can be either a good thing or a bad thing depending on a couple of factors. Those who saw My Dinner with Andre (1981) back in the day and said, "give me more of that please," will no doubt already sold on the idea of two frienemies breaking bread together. Shot in a naturalistic style complete with muted color tones, The Trip doesn't exactly ingratiate itself as a fun movie for general audiences. Furthermore the film is a highlight reel of a BBC miniseries of the same name therefore guaranteeing that unless you're the kind of person who wonders into a movie blind, you'll probably walk in being a fan of the series and therefore you'll automatically enjoy it.But to the rest of us, The Trip runs the risk of being insufferable. At the thematic center of the film is Steve Coogan's professional rivalry with Rob Brydon. A rivalry which is revisited repeatedly with long-winded conversations punctuated by petty one-upsmanship. The banter is funny, witty and refreshingly organic with equally on-point Michael Caine impressions serving the largest supply of belly laughs. Yet because much of the dialogue is improvised it's also primordial, relying heavily on the the occasional quip instead of the usual setups and payoffs.This becomes a problem as the characters progress through each dinner. Coogan and Brydon are wisely concentrated on the power dynamic between them but they never seem all that worried about story progression. One dinner bleeds into the other, into the other with talk of media and name-dropping becoming conversational filler. It gets repetitive and even a little grating as the camera teases us with ten second reprieves in the kitchen to see what's simmering the the pan. Then we're brought right back to Coogan and Brydon who never seem all that jazzed about the food they're eating.Those in the know will hopefully be entertained by the pleasant dinner conversation and the occasional drive through back country while listening to ABBA. Yet lacking buildup, tension or anything commonly associated with, you know, "movies", The Trip is liable to exclude regular audiences before they even hit coat check.

Many a Hollywood comedy has put two comics on the road together and found comedic gold. Britain's "The Trip" is what those movies would be if they were somewhat realistic, and it's no less funny – depending on your tastes, of course.Steve Coogan and Rob Brydon play fictional versions of themselves who go on a foodie tour of northern England for an article Steve's writing, as told by their "Tristam Shandy" director, Michael Winterbottom. Originally released as a series of six 30-minute episodes for TV, Winterbottom edits them into a film just shy of two hours; despite having not watched the series, nothing feels incomplete about this film version, though doubtless there are more comedic gems to be found in the missing hour of material.That said, "The Trip" is episodic in nature. There's a rhythm and formula to each day: Steve and Rob drive down winding northern roads with beautiful landscapes behind them; they arrive at modest inns where a friendly woman shows them around; they sit in quaint dining rooms and eat exquisite-looking food that Winterbottom loves to show being plated; they do impressions of famous actors ad nauseam; they discuss their careers; they make phone calls to a consistent assortment of people, often out in fields where to get cell phone reception; they recite poetry. Rinse and repeat.Although at times this repetitive structure feels uninspired, there's something comforting about it, like when you get into a pleasant routine on a vacation. All the while, we grow more accustomed to Steve and Rob's dynamic, one that is typical of two humorous friends in that jokes get repeated, they annoy each other and there's a little one-upmanship going on. The fact that Rob is a family man and Steve is a middle-aged bachelor keeps their back-and- forth interesting and occasionally poignant. The humorous aspects of "The Trip" have nothing to do with the plot or narrative. Nothing is situational. It has funny bits and clips that stand on their own. The dueling Michael Caine impressions (and "she was only 15 years old" bit), "Gentleman, to Bed," James Bond villains and singing "The Winner Takes It All" are some of the highlights that can be enjoyed without any context yet definitively add something to the film when experienced as part of the whole."The Trip" feels about as close to real life as a comedy can get without losing all its funniness. Most real-life friends aren't as funny as these two, and that's the secret as to why not just anyone can go on a food tour of northern England, bring a camera along and make a good movie. Coogan and Brydon are exemplifying great improvisational chemistry while staying grounded in their characters enough that "The Trip" retains the feel of a documentary.Even Americans or others who self-identify as fans British humor will find "The Trip" to be a different sort of animal that maybe wasn't what they expected. It's mundane, uneventful and a little plain. It makes no statements. Yet there's a pleasure in watching it – and re-watching the funniest clips.~Steven CThanks for reading! Visit Movie Muse Reviews for more

'The Trip' is one of the many shows that seem to be on currently or have been on recently that feature actors playing versions of themselves. In this show we have Steve Coogan and Rob Brydon doing exactly that.It's a rambling travelogue of a show, that enables both performers to shine. The publics perception of them already plays a big part in it's success too, as they both play to it and against it well.It doesn't really go anywhere though for me, with each episode hitting the re-set button. I also found it to be a little self-indulgent.What I would recommend though is watching the TV series version of it rather than the expanded 'film' attempt, which milks it a bit too much.

We were planning to go and see the latest Trip to Italy movie and decided to rent The Trip to get a taste for the humour. What a totally boring piece of self-indulgence. Rob Bryden might be well known for his impressions, but with multiple impersonations of Michael Caine, Sean Connery as James Bond and Woody Allen leaves you feeling like he has a repertoire of 3. The rest of the movie was mildly interesting in terms of the food preparation in the kitchens and nice scenery, but it was obviously populated with actors while pretending to be a real life foodie road trip. Needless to say, we're not bothering to go and see the Trip to Italy.