The Trip (2010)

(On Cable TV, August 2020) So here’s this as a film premise: Two British comedians show up as themselves, going on the road in Northern England to eat at a few restaurants for a newspaper article, bickering all along the way. Their dialogue largely consists of put-downs, impressions, and put-downs of their impressions. All shot in constantly moving handheld camera. It sounds terrible in theory but The Trip works quite a bit better in practice, mostly because this is a film that can be listened to almost as well as watched, and both Steve Coogan and Rob Brydon can be really likable at times. Invented subplots include romantic troubles and Coogan’s nightmares about his career. Along the way, we get a glimpse at two men trying to argue their way out of their own psychological anxieties. The film originally consisted of six 30-minute episodes that were then re-edited in a single 2-hour feature film, presumably cutting out some dialogue and landscapes along the way. In all honesty, The Trip is not that good of a conventionally narrative film – even in its boiled-down edited form, it’s not decently plotted and somewhat limited in what it can do within the limits of its format. But it’s enjoyable to watch, and there’s clearly a successful formula here, as it was followed by no less than three sequels (so far).