popcorninhell The Trip to Italy is a sequel to the little known, little seen 2010 film The Trip, which in itself is a highlight reel of a little known, little seen BBC miniseries of the same name. Each reiteration of this franchise, I guess you could call it, feels like the rotating lenses of a microscope, filling in more detail while getting ever smaller in scope and appeal. Who exactly is this movie for? I'm not quite sure but whoever is on its wavelength will probably have a ball.The Trip to Italy revisits Steve Coogan and Rob Brydon as they are once again conscripted by the London Observer to eat at and review multiple restaurants. This time instead of driving through the foggy moors of Northern England, the duo drive their rented Mini Cooper through the sunny coasts of Italy. While doing so they once again trade witty repartee, relight professional rivalries and whip out their best Michael Caine impressions.Its basically the same setup as the first only the location and power dynamic between our two leads is a bit more interesting. Coogan's star seems to have taken a dip since the cancellation of his American TV series. Meanwhile the less misanthropic Brydon is being courted by director Michael Mann for a billed part in a crime drama. Insecurities and the specter of aging into obsolescence abounds in this sequel, and the Italian countryside and tales of the Romantics serve beautifully as a stark juxtaposition.Director Michael Winterbottom takes every opportunity to indulge in the sun and scenic poetry of Italy. As the characters retrace the steps of the romantics, Winterbottom takes delight in lifting visual cues from mainstay international cinema such as the bumpy road trips of Il Sorpasso (1962), the luxurious schooners of Purple Noon (1960) and the general feeling of ennui from La Dolce Vita (1960). As the film wears on, the actors become entrenched in a background literally alive with history, unable to make their pithy comments take you out of the beauty (though it's not for lack of trying.Yet the same things that bogged down The Trip from being the best version of itself are still purposely present in Trip to Italy. There are the same insufferably self-centered characters, the same conversations and improvisational impressions, the same inattention to the freaking food! Seriously, I realize that oafish behavior set against the truly beautiful is partially the point but how do you NOT make Italian food the center of attention? Thankfully the two surly actors have much more to interact with. Actresses Marta Barrio and Rosie Fellner actually show up to dinner instead of being relegated to bits of cellphone asides. Steve's son (as played by Timothy Leach) shows up as well allowing us to see how two middle-aged men in a perpetual existential crises handle being around a child for a few minutes.Overall Trip to Italy is in my mind a smidgen better than its predecessor and only because it trades temperate gloom for Mediterranean sunniness. But if you're the type who finds the fields, fog and verdant bluffs of England more appealing then the opposite might be true for you. Regardless, your ability to take this trilogy (so far) is wholly dependent on your ability to stomach two actors winging-it while sitting across from one another. I personally found my patience eroding by the minute.

ormeling Not very familiar with the actors, I enjoyed some of the conversations although the imitations do start to get annoying halfway the movie. You can see they are great actors but you do feel the script pouring through lots of the time... It has to look like 2 friends getting together having funny conversations but it just doesn't work. Plus I got very annoyed with the maffia/Al Pacino/Marlon Brando imitations, it was just too easy. Overall it felt more like Michael Winterbottom has started his midlife crisis and uses the actors, the script and Italy to get to the (michaelwinter)bottom of it. A pointless one night stand, 2 older English guys "trying" to be funny, beautiful scenery, it just breathed midlife crisis everywhere. I just found it too easy, he could have made something better honestly, maybe put in a weird end with someone dying or something a bit more shocking.. now its just a small river of sometimes funny conversations between two 40something English guys who still want to shag all young, beautiful girls, and who do feel more male when they succeed in this, while they get drunk on gin and tonics... It looks like Michael Winterbottom went to Italy himself, red some Lord Byron and Don Juan, felt himself a bit like Woody Allen and combined this with his upcoming midlife crisis and this was what came out.....The scenery is beautiful though and you will crave for a fab pasta just because of the food shots.

Leon Anavi A couple of mediocre actors and a complete lack of a screenplay. The only thing worse than the trailer of "The Trip to Italy" is the whole movie. For the first time in my life I saw most of the audience leaving the cinema far before the end of the movie.There was nothing dramatic in "The Trip to Italy" and it falls flat on humor. If you have 107 free minutes and you want to see a British comedy with dramatic moments I recommend you to watch a replay of the derby Manchester United vs Arsenal (8-2) from 2011. Please do not repeat my mistake. Do not waste your time with "The Trip to Italy".

Aktham Tashtush So Steve Coogan and Rob Brydon ,generally are really funny .. but the movie seems to have missing something ,, there's a leakage !! i don't know maybe the script was a bit off !!! unorganized ... or maybe it was meant to be like this "spontaneous" . the impersonating is okay even though more than half of the characters i have no idea who they were . i supposed it was to be having more comedy and some funny bits but honestly the only two times that i cracked a good laugh in the movie was when they started talking about the Kumquat :D and when Rob was talking to the body in the glass box in Pompeii ... gosh that was Hilarious :D other than that it was just like watching two guys blabbing in the streets of Italy :P i mean if they were speaking Italian i really wouldn't notice any change in the movie.