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The Trip: Great British Conversations, Food And Countryside


When I walked in the E Street Cinema today to see a movie, I had two choices - to see The Trip or The Beginners, both movies received raving reviews from the American movie critics. So, when I have a choice of two, I usually get a second opinion - from the guys at the register, who, sometimes, see a movie before anyone else does in the city. This is what they said:

"The Beginners is a good movie, very funny...and there is a talking dog in the movie..."

"But The Trip is even better..."

And that made up my mind and I went to see The Trip and.... I've made a great decision.

First of all, I must admit, I'm a big fan of British movies. UK does not make many films - at least not like the Hollywood machine. They make just a few, and out of those few, only one or two make it across the border, and when they do - they impress the hell out of international audience...


The Trip is a road-movie that combines some of the best elements of the British cinema - great actors, great conversation, smart British humor, and the beautiful sights of British countryside...plus - the food....and not some fish and chips, eggs and toast or fried sneakers - but a high end cuisine that you'd expect to see in London, not in the countryside in the middle of nowhere...

But first comes fist. The Trip is a movie about friendship, choices we take in life and the reality of loneliness. 

The characters who are both too similar, and at the same time - too different, engage on a week-long trip around the countryside to review restaurants.

Steve Coogan is commissioined to act as a food critic by the Observer newspaper, who calls on his friend Rob Brydon, an actor, to join him for the trip.

Character Brydon agrees to the trip (as it does not seem he has a steady job, anyway).

The two know each other very well, but do not call each other best friends. However, during the trip the men definitely become closer - but as sad as it seems, after the trip is completed, they go their separate ways - back to their very different lifestyles.

During the trip, the characters take us through the very beautiful sights of the countryside of UK - almost to the overwhelming degree of the beauty. And not a day goes by without dining at a restaurant with the purpose to review the food.


However, the conversations over the dinner is more than just a food conversation. As they taste the food and exchange opinions about the contents of their plates, they touch the subject matters of love, family, and work. And most of those conversation happen through the impersonations and imitations of famous movie stars, among them Michael Caine, Sean Connery, Liam Neeson, Al Pacino, Hugh Grant, Anthony Hopkins, Roger Moore, and Woody Allen. And they do them pretty well...

However, aside from all the mocks and jokes, the movie relieves that it's not Coogan's character that is doing well in life...it's Brydon's character, the one, who looks rather "unfortunate" and "unsuccessful" than his travel companion. The truth is - that Coogan is a lonely man, who has been living a rather narcissistic life, while Brydon - lives a happy down-to-earth family life.


At the end of the trip, we surely see that all the success and prosperity of Coogan can not compensate for the feel of coming home to the loved ones...

See the trailer here:

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Location: Washington D.C., DC, USA

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