AUGUST 28, 2017
I’m back after over a week of vacationing in (mostly) a non-internet part of the Pacific Northwest woods to celebrate my mother-in-law’s 97th (!!!!!) birthday. For all of us, it was literally a breath of fresh air.
So what’d I miss?
Oh yeah, there was that “blame on both sides” comment on Charlottesville. A real gem that one. And as Houston is drowning, El Jefe winds up tweeting about how big he won Missouri. Lots to talk about there, but there’s plenty of time for Trump later this week. Let’s have some fun on the first day back.
I offer as Exhibit A: Michael Winterbottom’s “The Trip to Spain.”
Forget Marvel and DC Comics. With the possible exception of the “Planet of the Apes” movies, “The Trip” films are the best trilogy for moviegoers to devour this summer.
What???? You’ve never seen a “Trip” movie? Let me fill you in.
Remember a few months ago when I reviewed a food/travelogue movie titled “Paris Can Wait”? I didn’t think much of it then, and I think even less of it now. To the writer/director of that film, Eleanor Coppola, a bit of a heads-up: “The Trip to Spain” is how it is done.
Here’s the set-up: writer/actor Steve Coogan (playing more or less a version of himself) is given an assignment by a major newspaper (in this case, The New York Times) to write about the food and culture of a particular country. In the first film, “The Trip” (2011), Coogan and his travel-mate, actor/impressionist Rob Dryden (pictured above, left), travel all around England to see the sights and taste the country’s culinary delights. (The delights there were few and far between.) In 2014’s “The Trip to Italy,” however, the food soars in quality, as well as the scenery.
In their third film, “The Trip to Spain,” Steve and Rob are plunked into the middle of the Iberian peninsula, leaving their families behind to go on a gastronomic adventure together. And, as presented here, the edibles are absolutely food porn, glowingly photographed in a way that will make you want to rush out to your nearest Spanish restaurant when the end credits roll (which is exactly what we did).
To be honest, “The Trip to Spain” is not much of a movie per se — Winterbottom basically follows the two extremely-skilled improv comics around and waits to see what happens, which in this case is a lot.
Unlike “Paris Can Wait”, however, which followed a not-so-interesting housewife and her French traveling companion who is on the make, “The Trip” movies feature two comics — one more famous than the other, as Steve repeatedly reminds us of his two Oscar nominations for 2013’s “Philomena” — at the top of their game, and that includes celebrity impressions, which is, in some weird way, the heart and soul of “The Trip” movies.
There is kind of an undertone to to the entire enterprise — two middle-aged men (both approaching 50) whose careers may not have turned out quite the way they hoped and having to cope with that realization. Though Rob (in the films at least) appears to be happily married, Steve’s personal life is a bit more complicated, as he is having an affair with a married actress (and she’s pregnant — she says it’s not his), and Steve’s 20 year-old son has learned that his teenage girlfriend is also pregnant. How can you enjoy a paella with such news?
Still, the reason why moviegoers have flocked to see “The Trip” movies are the dueling celebrity impressions over which Steve and Rob go to war during every dinner. I must say that Steve has upped his game in “The Trip to Spain,” with a Mick Jagger (complete with over-the-shoulder claps) that’s just killer, and during a discussion about the Moors, Rob unleashes an unexpected Roger Moore monologue that’s absolutely uncanny. Of course, the piece de resistance of any “Trip” movie is the pair’s dueling Michael Caines, and they save the best for last.
For “Trip” aficionados, “The Trip to Spain” is arguably the least of the three films — the surprise of the first two films just can’t be replicated, and, for my taste at least, there’s too much pregnancy and too little Spain. But I quibble.
If you’ve seen “The Big Sick” and are looking for another laugh-out-loud good time, search out “The Trip to Spain.” You’ll be guaranteed both to laugh and to feel very very hungry by the final credits.
GRADE: B+
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