Actors Rob Brydon and Steve Coogan travel from Troy to Ithaca following in the footsteps of the Odysseus.
I thoroughly enjoyed the three previous “Trip” movies: “The Trip,” “The Trip to Italy,” and “The Trip to Spain.” Both Steve Coogan and Rob Brydon are the perfect duo, restaurant critics who travel to exotic locales while sampling the best food restaurants in those cities have to offer. In each movie, Mr. Coogan and Mr. Brydon play exaggerated versions of themselves and the banter between them is, at times, downright hilarious but with “The Trip to Greece,” while there are some funny exchanges between the two men, it almost feels like they are running out of ideas and the humor is more strained and infrequent.
This time around, Steve and Rob pack their bags and head off to beautiful Greece, following in the footsteps of Odysseus and his 10-year odyssey to get back home to Ithaca after leaving Troy around 1168 B.C. There is no conventional structure, so to speak, with the “Trip” films, they do not follow the traditional narrative of most other movies, instead, it has more a documentary feel to it and we just follow Steve and Rob from location to location and bask in their playful and laugh-out-loud repartee.
In their previous outings, they lent themselves more to celebrity impersonations, actors like Sean Connery, Roger Moore, and Michael Caine, to name but a few, but here, while they do imitate said actors and others, it is done so intermittently and as a result, the film suffers greatly. Listening to them have entire conversations as Michael Caine or Sean Connery, respectively, was a joy to listen to and always a highlight of the movie and I was saddened that this aspect was pretty much done away with. Also, both men would critique the food and interact more with the chefs and wait staff but like the impersonation element, it has pretty much been abolished.
We do, however, get to see some absolutely stunning locales including the Temple of Apollo at Delphi, the Ancient Agora of Athens, the Ancient Theatre of Epidaurus, the unique island of Hydra, the Caves of Diros, Nestor’s Palace, Niokastro Fortress in Pylos, and Ancient Stagira. While the film looks visually spectacular, it feels very empty, devoid of the heart and soul that drove the previous iterations. While Steve and Rob are playing fictionalized versions of themselves, the filmmakers thought it prudent to infuse Mr. Coogan’s character with a long-drawn-out and unnecessary dramatic component, the death of his ailing father and as a consequence, he cuts his trip short and returns to England by himself to be with his family.
Understandably, this is the approach a person would take in such tragic times but it puts such a damper on the story that the humor and feel-good ambiance felt throughout most of the movie, is discarded and everything ends on a depressing note. We watch Rob’s wife comes out to Greece so they can spend some much-needed time away from their kids and we see Steve interact with his family and ex-wife as they prepare to go to the hospital to see his father’s body. The “Trip” films always had moments of drama but the real emphasis was always on our two lead protagonists and their humorous interactions with each other. “The Trip to Greece” feels like the end of the series and I’m okay with that, I just wish the movie had ended on a higher and more positive note, instead of the somber and unsatisfying denouement we are left with.
Available on VOD Friday, May 22nd
