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'The Trip to Spain' is the least of the movie trio but has its moments

( Unrated ) ( Monitor Movie Guide )

Steve Coogan and Rob Brydon once again pair up as rivalrous buddies. Coogan, a writer and actor, is on assignment to write yet another gastronomic magazine article, this time on high-end Spanish restaurants.

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Courtesy of IFC Films
'The Trip to Spain' stars Steve Coogan (l.) and Rob Brydon (r.).
  • By Peter Rainer Film critic

Michael Winterbottom’s “The Trip to Spain” comes after “The Trip” (2010) and “The Trip to Italy” (2014), and although it’s the least of the trio, it has its moments. Steve Coogan and Rob Brydon once again pair up as rivalrous buddies who are comic versions of themselves. Coogan, a writer and actor, is on assignment to write yet another gastronomic magazine article, this time on high-end Spanish restaurants. Brydon, an actor, is along for the ride.

The funny thing about this series is that, although we are regularly shown the most exquisite dishes, neither Coogan nor Brydon has much to say about them beyond the mandatory oohs and aahs. Winterbottom works in some midlife crises material, as he also did in “The Trip to Italy,” but to less effect here.

I would have been content just to have these two guys sitting across from each other in restaurants and hotel rooms for the entire movie as they riff their celebrity impressions. The takeoffs are screamingly funny. Sean Connery, David Bowie, Mick Jagger, Roger Moore, Robert De Niro, Al Pacino, Woody Allen, Marlon Brando, Anthony Hopkins, John Hurt, Ian McKellen, Michael Caine – all are expertly skewered. Grade: B- (This movie is not rated.)

 

     

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