I’ve seen previews for The Trip, The Trip to Italy and The Trip to Spain, but considering I didn’t know who these two British guys were despite being a bit of an Anglophile, and I found Sideways disappointing, I thought, “Hard pass.” I finally know Steve Coogan after seeing and enjoying his performances in Philomena and Around the World in 80 Days so I was willing to give the franchise a chance. It also helped that I was soon going on a trip myself and was convalescing from a cold so I needed a film that would not demand too much from me and would get me in the right mood. Unfortunately I inadvertently watched them out of sequential order, which was not my intention or ordinary practice, but I was sick so I will review them in that order. This review is the second of three.
The Trip to Spain is the third of three movies, which originally aired as a longer series. This franchise feels like a documentary because the two main characters, Coogan and Rob Brydon, whom I do not know, play themselves, but it is improvised and fictional. Most of the other actors are playing fictional roles as a wife, agent, handler, etc. Unlike the first film, Coogan is eager to team up with Brydon and begins the film feeling more secure after a brush with Oscar for cowriting Philomena. Brydon seems eager to leave home, but is still the content family man who is happy with his station in life.
The Trip to Spain basically follows the same beats as The Trip except in a more beautiful, warmer location, and the narrative is more obviously fictional, complete with career plot twists and a cliffhanger denouement. Unlike the first film, Coogan starts out relatively satisfied, enthusiastic and content then gradually is destabilized by external events. If The Trip was a journey about recognizing and finding peace in your blessings, The Trip to Spain is basically about suddenly becoming unmoored just when you feel like you have figured out how life works and began to enjoy it. No one expects the Spanish inquisition!
Unlike the prior installments, The Trip to Spain managed to make the other actors seem delighted to just be spectators in Coogan and Brydon’s impression dance off instead of begrudgingly seeming amused and barely interested as they sucked all the oxygen out of the room. This dynamic is why it is my least favorite movie in the franchise. Functional adults include everyone in the conversation. The bits go on a little too long and are not that funny, but I did cackle when their al fresca dining experience was interrupted by the elements. I was happy that the two men had matured slightly and recognized how other people saw them, but disappointed that after Coogan’s epiphany in the first film about the importance of family in his life, it was all just talk, and he had moved away after all.
Unless you were a fan of The Trip or the idea of Coogan and Brydon, there is no need to see The Trip to Spain except if you love seeing Spain. It is entertaining, but it is more of the same and is more like a Saturday Night Live skit that went on too long.