The Trip to Italy is not for everybody as it is basically two guys chatting it up, while eating mostly pasta and drinking wine, for 100-minutes, but for myself, I enjoyed the banter between Steven Coogan and Rob Brydon and the travelogue-like plot taking in the sights of Italy is worth the time.
The Trip to Italy
(2014)
Genre(s): Comedy
MPI Media | NR – 108 min. – $29.98 | December 23, 2014
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MOVIE INFO: Directed by: Michael Winterbottom Cast: Steve Coogan, Rob Brydon DISC INFO: Audio: English (DTS-HD MA 5.1) |
THE MOVIE – 3.5/5
The Trip to Italy is a sequel to 2010’s The Trip which itself was culled together from a British television series to make a feature film (in fact, this sequel I think does the same for the show’s second season). There’s not much of a plot and frankly, unless you like these two, you’ll be bored to tears…
The plot, such as it is, finds Rob (ROB BRYDON) calling actor/comedian Steve (STEVE COOGAN) that the magazine wants to do another article with them this time taking in the sites and foods in Italy. So the pair are off together, riding around the Italian countryside, in a Mini Cooper of course, stopping at a restaurant to take in several courses of pasta and the like, in between and during they do impressions of actors such as Michael Caine, Tom Hardy and Christian Bale from The Dark Knight Rises.
That’s basically it in a nutshell: Two dudes, gallivanting around Italy, taking in the sites, not to mention Italian ladies, riding on boats and bantering with one another. There’s really not much else to it.
Now, for my part, as a movie fan – and a fan of Alanis Morrisette which Coogan and Brydon pontificate on – I laughed at their impressions of various actors and the banter between the two makes the film more than tolerable even if the premise is thin and no doubt merely an excuse for a nice, and free, trip to Italy staying in nice hotels.
Again, if you need a premise and the thought of watching two comedians chatting it up for a good 100 minutes, then this Trip isn’t for you as, understandably, will probably be bored to tears, annoyed or both. I on the other hand found it funny and the two have great friendly chemistry together.
SPECIAL FEATURES – 1.5/5
Not much here save for some Deleted Scenes (26:00; HD), which are basically outtakes, and the Theatrical Trailer (2:24; HD).
VIDEO – 4.0/5
The Trip to Italy gets served up on Blu-ray presented with a 1080p high-definition transfer and in its original 1.85 widescreen aspect ratio. Although this isn’t an amazing looking picture, it certainly takes advantage of the Italian views and countryside providing for bright colors. Detail levels are pretty good and didn’t notice major instances of artifacting, aliasing or banding
AUDIO – 3.5/5
The 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio track provided isn’t anything incredible but serviceable with clear dialogue throughout while the music/soundtrack, such as there is, is fairly limited and not very dynamic.
OVERALL – 3.0/5
Admittedly, The Trip to Italy is not for everybody as it is basically two guys chatting it up, while eating mostly pasta and drinking wine, for 100-minutes, but for myself, I enjoyed the banter between Steven Coogan and Rob Brydon and the travelogue-like plot taking in the sights of Italy is worth the time.
Published: 12/17/2014