Movie Review: THE TRIP TO ITALY

THE TRIP TO ITALY
Writer/Director: Michael Winterbottom
Starring: Steve Coogan, Rob Brydon, Rosie Fellner, Claire Keelan, Timothy Leach

If someone asked me to drop everything and take a free trip to Italy for a week, I would definitely take them up on that offer. I had an unforgettable trip to this exquisite country back in 2004 and am dying to go back someday. I suppose movies like last year’s The Great Beauty and this one will have to suffice. The Trip to Italy is a sequel to the 2010 indie hit The Trip and is also based on segments from season two of the BBC show of the same name. Steve Coogan (Philomena) and Rob Brydon (Lock, Stock, and Two Smoking Barrels) are back for another road trip, but this time they are touring Italy as Rob has been asked to do some restaurant reviews for his paper. There is not much in terms of a heavy plot, but don’t let that deter you. The audience is treated like we are the third passenger on this trip with two dear friends. The focus of their trip is spent on the culinary world of Italy and their love of Romantic poets Percy Shelley and Lord Byron. Coogan and Brydon play semi-fictionalized versions of themselves. The conversation is silly at first as they reconnect. They pop in some Alanis Morissette for nostalgic purposes, and it’s not long before they dive into their numerous celebrity impersonations including Michael Caine, Al Pacino, and Tom Hardy, just to name a few.

The first film is one of those sleeper hits that not many people have seen, but if you mention it, someone may perk up and get excited to hear you’ve seen it as well. This has happened to me a couple of times when I’ve mentioned this movie. This one will have the same affect. I think anyone that saw the first one will no doubt love the follow-up. I must confess that I have not seen the first one yet, even though it has been on my “to-see” list. It’s available through Netflix streaming so I really have no excuse not to watch it now that I’ve seen this one. So was I completely lost? Not really. It will help if you have some general familiarity with either of the two actors. I have never seen Brydon in anything before, which helps play off the fact that there is an underlying theme in the movie that American audiences have no idea who he is. While on the trip, he decides to audition for a Michael Mann film for a role that is completely outside his typical playing field. I am familiar with Coogan enough where I understood the references to his filmography.

Writer and director Michael Winterbottom (24 Hour Party People) is back for this trip as well. He keeps a light and jovial mood throughout the movie as these two old friends reconnect and catch up. If you have ever taken a road trip with friends, you will definitely relate to their back and forth banter. Brydon is that friend of yours that will continue to talk the whole time fearing any moment of silence may dull the trip. He is constantly doing voices and silly impersonations to the point where you wonder why he can’t drop the idea of being “on”. Is he covering up some insecurities or is he just simply excited to be on this little getaway. At one points Coogan states, “You have a moral compass. You just don’t know where it is.” He seems a bit more level headed knowing when and where to join in on Brydon’s silliness. There is an absolutely hysterical scene where they delve into their impersonations and re-create a scene from The Dark Knight Rises.

The cinematography is so rich in the Italian landscape, you can’t help but feel the vibrancy and culture. Even though this movie isn’t really about food, foodies will devour the shots involving food preparation and presentation when Brydon and Coogan visit each of the various restaurants throughout the movie. The road trip provides time for both men to have some self reflection on the meaning of life, their careers, and their family. When you are surrounded by the beautiful nature Italy provides, how do you not start contemplating what your life has to offer? The Trip to Italy is currently playing in various art house theaters, but you can also catch it On Demand if one isn’t in your area.

Is It Worth Your Trip to the Movies? If you take this trip to Italy, you will have a jolly good time.

RATING: 4 out of 5 TICKET STUBS

Movie Review: TAMMY

TAMMY
Director: Ben Falcone
Starring: Melissa McCarthy, Susan Sarandon, Kathy Bates, Allison Janney, Nat Faxon, Toni Collette, Sandra Oh, Gary Cole, Mark Duplass, Dan Aykroyd

McCarthy. Sarandon. Bates. Janney. Collette. All fantastic actresses that I love. Tammy has to be good, right? Well...You may want to think twice before buying your movie tickets this weekend. On the same day Tammy (McCarthy) is fired from her job at Topper Jacks, her car breaks down, and finds out her husband (Faxon) is cheating on her with the neighbor (Collette). She heads over to her mom’s (Janney) house and ends up going on a road trip with her Grandma Pearl (Sarandon). Their end spot may be Niagara Falls, but along the way they stop by Pearl’s cousin Lenore’s (Bates) house for an all lesbian 4th of July barbeque. Tammy and Pearl both have their issues, troubles, problems, and dirty habits, so the trip along the way is quite the adventure.

Apparently, Tammy has been a pet project for Melissa McCarthy and her husband Ben Falcone. They have been working on it for years as they both wrote the script and Falcone sits in the director’s chair. Falcone also has a minor role as Tammy’s manager at Topper Jack’s. It’s odd that this is their special project as it doesn’t really have anything new to say. We have seen McCarthy play this type of dirty, crass, and obnoxious character numerous times before like Bridesmaids, The Heat, and Identity Thief. It has become her niche like many other comedians typically do. She is such a talented actress and is far better than playing the same old tired character over and over again. Her character Sookie St. James on Gilmore Girls is nothing like what she has been playing lately. By the way, how come no one ever mentions Gilmore Girls when talking about McCarthy. It’s a wonderful show, so go out and add it to your summer binge list!

The trailers for Tammy have definitely played up this side of her character, but they are a bit misleading as the movie isn’t about how gross she can be. The story is more about the road trip and relationship she has with her grandmother and how the two of them grow and learn from each other. There is a bit of a transformation and growth with Tammy as she isn’t always dumb and getting into trouble. The problem with it is that it’s uneven in its approach. There is a side subplot involving a budding romance with Mark Duplass’ character. I enjoyed it even though it doesn’t quite fit in the movie. It is further proof that McCarthy would be great in a smart romantic comedy. There is a sweet and natural chemistry between the two of them.

The film boasts a wonderful cast of truly talented character actors who have all dabbled in comedies and dramas. We’ve got two Oscar winners (Sarandon, Bates) and three Emmy winners (McCarthy, Collette, Janney) present. They all make the movie tolerable as I typically enjoy whatever they are working on, yet everyone seems to be wasted here. Poor Allison Janney is stuck behind a phone most of the movie checking in with McCarthy and Sarandon’s road trip. I wonder if they are all friends of McCarthy and Falcone who decided to do them a favor by being in the movie. I know Sarandon has appeared on McCarthy’s TV show, Mike and Molly. With McCarthy, Janney, and Sarandon playing three different generations, you have to get over their lack of an age difference very early on. In case you were curious, there is only a twenty-four year age gap between McCarthy and Sarandon. According to IMDb, Shirley MacLaine was originally cast as the grandma but had to bow out due to scheduling conflicts. With Sarandon doing another road trip style movie, this made me want to go back and watch Thelma & Louise again.

I haven’t given up on McCarthy yet like I have done in the past with Will Ferrell, Jack Black, and Adam Sandler. I just think it’s time to retire this character type that she has gotten herself stuck into playing over and over. She is clearly far superior than this material. Since it has been in the works for years, I do wonder if she wrote this movie before she got into this rut. Maybe it would have played better if it had been released years ago.

Is It Worth Your Trip to the Movies? The movie has a couple of laughs, but they were already shown in the trailer. The movie is not nearly as funny as it could have been knowing how funny McCarthy can be.

RATING: 2 out of 5 TICKET STUBS

Movie Review: THE GUILT TRIP

THE GUILT TRIP
Director: Anne Fletcher
Starring: Seth Rogen, Barbra Streisand, Colin Hanks, Adam Scott, Kathy Najimy

I never would have expected the divine Barbra Streisand and Seth Rogen to star in a movie together. Those two are light years apart on the acting spectrum and are in such different generations of Hollywood, yet somehow the concept of them starring as mother and son somehow works. Andy Brewster (Rogen) is visiting his mother Joyce (Streisand) while he heads out on the road trying to promote and sell his product to big businesses like K-Mart and Costco. He invented an all natural cleaning product made from coconut, grass, and soy called Scieoclean. Needless to say, the name of it is hard to pronounce and Andrew does not have the best sales pitch. Joyce is his widowed and retired mom who seems to be enjoying life to the fullest all the while being slightly overbearing by constantly calling Andy, leaving messages, and prodding into his life.

A late night conversation over ice cream seems to open up the doors to some family secrets. Joyce opens up to Andy about the long lost love that she left behind when she married his father. Andy just so happens to be named after this lost love. The light bulb goes off in Andy's head and he researches the whereabouts of this Andrew Margolis character. He tracks Andrew down in San Francisco and invites his mother along on his business trip under the ruse of them being able to spend some good quality mother son time together. In reality, he wants to take her to San Francisco to track down Andrew so she can have some closure. Joyce is thrilled at the idea of joining her son on a business trip driving all over the United States. She has an idea to play matchmaker herself by wanting to set Andy up with his high school sweetheart when they pass through her hometown. She packs far too many suitcases, a controversial book on CD, and has far too many opinions for Andy to deal with on the first day.

Barbra Streisand and Seth Rogen are definitely playing against their usual types and images we see them as in real life or the characters they have played before. There is not one scene where we see Rogen smoking pot! Being the accomplished legend that she is, Streisand is far more believable in playing against type. I just could never fully believe the fact that Rogen is a chemical engineer trying to sell a cleaning product he invented. Streisand knew how to play the overbearing moments while making subtle choices when she is trying to win over Andy. I always felt like I was learning so much about her character even she was not blabbing away at Andy. There is an argument scene in the hotel room that she completely nails and I understood everything she was thinking about leading up to her speech. Unlike Rogen, there is no blank stare or meaningless reflection to Streisand.

Screenwriter Dan Fogelman apparently wrote the movie based on a road trip he took with his mom. According to Streisand and Rogen, his mother actually participated in a steak eating contest similar to the one in the movie. Knowing that it is partially based on a true story helps the movie feel a little more realistic and relatable. There have been plenty of buddy buddy or whole family road trip movies, but there have not been too many that are solely about a mother and son trek across the country that I can recall. There is a warm feeling to the movie as Andy and Joyce try to relate to each other and see how they can learn and grow from the other person. Streisand really makes the movie work. Her character is far more than just the nagging mother character you would expect her to be. The movie has plenty of heart and uplifting moments that I was not expecting by the way the trailer was cut together. It does make you wonder if you would be able to do a road trip with your mother no matter if she is overbearing or not.

RATING: *** 1/2 (3.5 out of 5 stars)