THE TRIP TO GREECE

Steve Coogan     Rob Brydon

     As striking and lovely as the land- and seascapes are in this buddy movie, if you’ve seen The Trip to Italy and The Trip to Spain, you’ve seen The Trip to Greece.  Despite it being a different country, there is little contrast between this and the earlier versions.  This film has the same format as the other two, in which Steve Coogan and Rob Brydon take trips to exotic places, tooling around in boats and cars, kibitzing with one another along the way, having brief interactions with others, and dining in restaurants with fine cuisine (e.g., mussels with expresso powder dust) and breathtaking views.  

     Conversations range from take-offs on beloved characters in movies, referencing historical characters and facts about the country they’re in, and competing on who is better at…anything.  They might take dips in the seas and join up with old acquaintances or current friends, and occasionally, we hear their conversations with loved ones at home.  

The films are primarily improvisational, but real events in the actors’ lives are woven in.  This one in particular shows significant events taking place at home, along with a reunion of husband and wife who are very much in love.

     I enjoyed this version of the Coogan-Brydon trips less than the others, partly because of its repetition, but also because it seems more rushed. Writer-director Michael Winterbottom really made a mistake in showing only glimpses of the kitchen staffs preparing elegant dishes without going into detail about what they consist of and something about the people preparing them.  They focus on one waitress who delights them, but that’s the extent of highlighting the people who serve them.  

     Just listening to Coogan and Brydon for such long stretches becomes tedious at best. We tire of them by the end of the film.  Another issue is that many of the references they make in their impersonations of Hollywood figures and Greek historical figures are likely to go over the heads of most viewers.  Most will be saying, “I don’t get it…”

     With the rich history of the worlds explored and the movies discussed in these films, it is puzzling to see the lack of creativity and potential for humor that is missed. 

Looking at a travelogue about Greece will be more exciting and informative than this film.

Grade:  D                                    By Donna R. Copeland

STAN & OLLIE

John C. Reilly     Steve Coogan     Shirley Henderson     Nina Arianda     Danny Huston     Rufus Jones

     Laurel & Hardy were a sensation beginning in the ‘20’s, faded a bit in the ‘40’s, and then had a comeback in the ‘50’s.  Their act was an old-time slapstick comedy, with each being a buffoon or a straight man in turn.  But Stan & Ollie is less about their act and more about the relationship between them during their long association, which survived when their other relationships did not, necessarily.

     In the film, we see them working, amiable and jostling together as they dream up their act.  Stan Laurel was the writer, and his work got them started on planning an act.  As time goes on and, as in all relationships, previously overlooked feelings start surfacing.  It gets more complicated as their wives join them on their last tour through Europe, ending in London.  Hardy’s wife is the traditional American wife, nurturing and ever mindful of her husband’s welfare.  Laurel’s wife is more cosmopolitan and has had something of a career as a dancer.  Her acerbic personality provides more entertainment in its contrast with the American conception of the “ideal” wife.

     The casting by Andy Pryor is right on.  John C. Reilly, in his usual “nailed it” mode, shows Ollie as someone who looks like he doesn’t know much and is a buffoon underneath, but actually shows a kind of intelligence that complements the Laurel character’s creativity. Steve Coogan likewise shows both sides of the buffoon-smart character.  Each deals with the business of entertainment in very different ways, and each is successful in his own way, although they don’t necessarily fit together in a negotiation.  Best to leave them negotiating on their own.

     I especially enjoyed the wives.  Shirley Henderson is a staple in British theatre and television, reliable in projecting color and meaning into a story.  Nina Arianda similarly gives movies she’s in a special punch. The writer (Jeff Pope) and director (Jon S. Baird) wisely use the two wives to illuminate the personas of Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy.

     The kind of comedy Laurel & Hardy embody is not especially appealing to me, but I found this account of their association compelling and moving.

Laurel and Hardy as Stan and Ollie in their private lives.

Grade:  C+                                    By Donna R. Copeland

THE TRIP TO SPAIN

Steve Coogan     Rob Brydon     Marta Barrio     Claire Keelon     Tim Leach

      Much like The Trip (2010) and The Trip to Italy (2014), Steve Coogan and Rob Brydon do their guy touring thing, this time in Spain, with (mostly) witty repartee, petty bickering, and comedic miming of celebrities while dining in exquisite restaurants and motoring through spectacular scenery.  Thanks to cinematographer James Clarke, we get a “you are there” experience, depending on the power of our imagination.  

   This is more than a travelogue, though, in that the actors and director Michael Winterbottom have seen to it that both emotionally substantive and truly funny scenes are a part of it.  No “writer” is listed, implying that much of the dialog is improvisational. The story touches on professional rivalry and the need for self-advocacy (or sometimes, simply luck), ruminations and banter about aging, the ever-present real-life situations that impact the trip, and genuine heartbreaks and disappointments.

     The audience I was with in the screening was ideally responsive, and applauded at the end.  I enjoyed it almost as much, but tired a bit of the impersonation sequences.  There were a lot:  Mick Jagger, Michael Caine, John Hirt, Marlon Brando, Robert DeNiro, Woody Allen, Errol Flynn, Sean Connery, and more…and a Bach-Swingle-Singers-like rendition of Herb Alpert’s Band.  Coogan and Brydon compete and argue about who does a better job of imitating. 

    Although I did like the Herb Alpert tune, I found more entertaining than the impersonations the sequences where one or the other would assume the role of the expert scientist-historian, showing off their knowledge of the disciplines.  It was surprising to me that a line I found laugh-out-loud funny (“Time flies like an arrow; fruit flies like a banana”), is actually an illustration used by linguists “as an example of a garden path sentence or syntactic ambiguity, and in word play as an example of punning, double entendre, and antanaclasis” (Wikipedia).  Kudos to whoever knew that term and inserted it.  Another funny sequence is when the producers of Steve’s and Rob’s show dress them up and have them pose as Don Quixote and Sancho Panza.  Their irritation and discomfort made the scene. 

     The ending sequences are rather tender and surprising in their quality of “life goes on…”

A travelogue to Spain with humor, exquisite meals, spectacular road trips, and the preoccupations of 50+ year-old men.

Grade:  B-                        By Donna R. Copeland

MINIONS

--> Voices of:  Sandra Bullock   Jon Hamm   Michael Keaton   Allison Janney   Steve Coogan   Pierre Coffin   Geoffrey Rush

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The Minions are some of the most lovable creatures in children’s movies.  Illumination Entertainment, directors Kyle Balda and Pierre Coffin, writer Brian Lynch, and musician Heitor Pereira  deserve high praise for making a film that is truly entertaining, uplifting, and insightful about human beings, with all accompanied by delightful music from the sixties.  The very premise of the adorable minions searching all around the world for an evil leader makes one smile.  And the fact that we can only decipher a part of what they are saying (made up of Spanish, French, English and blabber) and still know exactly what they mean is fascinating.  Also remarkable (especially for young children who have already gotten a bad reputation) is the pride shown by those who get the label of villain.

           Minions serves as a prequel to their appearance in the Despicable Me series, and here, Geoffrey Rush narrates their origins and history up to the 1960’s.  The Minions have finally found a home they love after being banished to Antarctica (in The Despicables 2), but are distressed because they can’t keep a leader.  They have lost their previous leader, super-villain Gru, and every time they think they’ve found a replacement, something happens to make him/her/it disappear.  Then Kevin has a bright idea.  He will go out into the wide world and search for the perfectly despicable leader and then they’ll all be happy and motivated again.  He recruits two Minions to follow him:  One-eyed Stuart and tiny Bob.  They manage to get to New York City, but get a tip about Villain Con soon to take place in Orlando, an ideal place to find a despicable leader.  It’s 1968 when it’s popular for hippies to hitch rides, which seems like a good idea for them, and after several futile attempts, they’re on their way when a family stops to pick them up. 

           The Nelsons (Keaton and Janney as parents) are not an ordinary family; they’re headed to Villain Con in Orlando, and have to stop along the way for funds.  After robbing a bank in colorful masks, they elude the police in a wild car chase.  Ultimately, they deliver the trio to Villain Con and part company, although the Nelsons will see them again from time to time.  And indeed they do find a potential, Scarlett Overkill (Bullock) who takes pride in her evilness and has challenged a huge audience of fans to take a valuable stone from her hands, the reward for which will be a position as one of her henchmen.  After a major skirmish among the aspirers, it turns out that Bob coughs out the stone to everyone’s amazement.  Thereupon, Scarlett and her husband Herb (Hamm) take the three Minions to their swanky home and give them their charge.  They are to steal the crown of the Queen of England, something Scarlett has yearned for all her life.  And to help them, Herb gives them three of his inventions (mechanical limbs that extend out endlessly, a lava-shooting gun, and a cap).  The cap is hilarious because it looks like a round hot water bottle, but when it inflates and spins around like a globe, it puts the viewer into hypnosis.  All of these items will come in handy when the entourage travels to London to carry out the evil deed where they will encounter major threats of imprisonment and even death.

           Minions has received only mediocre ratings from critics, but I enjoyed it a lot, and do think the general public might as well.  My only reservation is the apparent acceptance of the characters’ getting away with deeds that are sometimes illegal, but these aren’t blatant enough that children will get the idea it’s all right to copy them. 

Charge of the Minions. 

Grade:  B                                            By Donna R. Copeland

PHILOMENA

Judi Dench     Steve Coogan     Sophie Kennedy Clark

Mare Winningham     Barbara Jefford     Ruth McCabe

  

     Philomena is a detective story, in a way, that involves Philomena (Judi Dench) trying to find the son whose birth she has kept secret for 50 years, and whom she was forced to give up when she became pregnant at a young age.  But it is also about religious faith, the ethics of journalism, aging, and forgiveness.  When she decides to tell her secret, Philomena is an old woman, and by chance, her path crosses that of a journalist (Steve Coogan) who needs a job.  Human-interest stories are far from what he wants to do, but he has no choice.  So the two become partners in trying to locate the son.

     As the story unfolds, we find out more and more about Philomena’s life as well as her son’s.  The journey takes them from Ireland to the U.S., where they stay longer than they intended because the story keeps pulling them along.  The story, which is based on real people and real events (The Lost Child of Philomena by Martin Sixsmith) is the strongest part of the film, along with the two actors, Dench and Coogan.  They have that wonderful chemistry, where they clash and bounce off one another and then have moments of deep compassion and understanding.  Steve Coogan wrote the screenplay with Jeff Pope, and it is truly a work of art in its depiction of life and people in a fascinating reality. 

     Stephen Frears, the director, has films of high quality to his credit, some of which have become hits, and I think this one will be very popular as well if it receives wide distribution.  Philomena combines intrigue, humor, strong emotional pulls, and life experiences that most people can identify with and relate to.  Moreover, it probes a bit into religious beliefs and practices that will evoke strong differences of opinion, just as it does between Philomena and Martin.  In the end, viewers will likely side with either Philomena on the side of forgiveness or Martin on the side of outrage, but in any case, are very likely to leave the theater feeling very moved and upbeat. 

This story is based on real people and real events.

Grade:  A                                    By Donna R. Copeland