The Trip to Italy

More of the same, The Trip to Italy follows Steve Coogan and Rob Brydon as they reunite to eat and talk their way through a number of Italian hotspots. There’s little doubt that the chemistry between Coogan and Brydon remains completely intact here, with the banter between the two going a long way towards initially sustaining the viewer’s interest. It’s just as clear, however, that The Trip to Italy suffers from a seriously meandering feel that grows more and more problematic as time progresses, as the movie, written by Michael Winterbottom, contains a surfeit of underwhelming conversations and it is, to an increasingly palpable degree, difficult to work up much interest in the protagonists’ ongoing encounters. It doesn’t help, either, that the movie’s digressions into Coogan and Brydon’s personal lives are far from enthralling, with the continuing emphasis on the former’s dealings with his son and the latter’s decision to cheat on his wife unable to relieve the disappointingly uninvolving vibe. Of course, The Trip to Italy benefits substantially from the periodic inclusion of laugh-out-loud funny bits of comedy – with the pair’s penchant for dueling impressions an obvious highlight within the proceedings. In the end, however, The Trip to Italy feels like a stale rehash of its demonstrably superior predecessor – which is a shame, certainly, given the tremendous appeal of the movie’s two leading men.

** out of ****