I've been a fan of English comedic actor Steve Coogan for over a decade, but with the exception of his performance as Tony Wilson in "24 Hour Party People" I've found a little of him goes a long way. He is tailor made for TV. Half an hour of "Knowing Me, Knowing You" (the meta-talk in which he is humiliated even worse than Gary Shandling was and ends up on, shock-horror, radio) was a drag on DVD where one episode after another was bad news.
The problem with the Trip is it is a long trip to take. It's an on the road English TV show re-edited for the US movie market and now available on DVD, with Steve playing Steve and UK TV personality Rob Brydon playing Rob traveling thru the North of England by car. Steve has been assigned to review restaurants in the North and, since Steve's gal has returned to the US, Rob has joined him.
The two improvise, perform spot on impressions (their battling Michael Caine's is already legendary) and fight between themselves.
It is pretty funny stuff but at nearly two hours is way too much of a good thing.
Musically, Joy Division plays on the soundtrack near the begriming -another uber joke, no doubt. And they sing Kate Bush's "Wuthering Heights" when they are near Haworth.
There maybe more but I could only take an hour and a half before I wanted to punch Steve in his face.
Still, the pairs quiet deadpan is pretty fun while it lasts and the impressions alone might make it worth watching in half hour bites!
Movie: B
Music: B