Lots of people like to accuse Adam Sandler of making movies just for the vacation (something I think he has admitted), but what if he got his friends together to make a travelogue-style film in which they visit several restaurants and famous locations while riffing on art, literature and pop culture? Add some British accents and you might end up with something like THE TRIP TO ITALY, which (of course) is much more intelligent than almost anything Sandler has been in. A sequel to 2010's THE TRIP (which, incidentally, I haven't seen yet), Steve Coogan and Rob Brydon return as fictionalized versions of themselves for a trip through the Italian countryside. There is honestly a lot to appreciate here, as long as you're not expecting a formal narrative. First, you have the beautiful natural scenery and on-location shooting. There is also a number of scenes which showcase the finest of Italian cuisine, which foodies should like very much. Although not as focused on the food as something like THE HUNDRED-FOOT JOURNEY, I wouldn't recommend watching this film on an empty stomach either. But most importantly, you have two excellent British comedians goofing off with each other for a couple of hours, and the chemistry between them is pretty amazing. The one promotional clip I remember seeing was both of them doing an impression of Michael Caine, and making fun of Christian Bale's and Tom Hardy's voices in THE DARK KNIGHT RISES. That actually takes place fairly early on in the film, but the references to other films (a lot of them set or shot in Italy) rarely lets up. There was also lots of references to Lord Byron and Percy Shelley. However, in contrast to the many scenes of witty banter, there are some quieter moments where they are apart from each other and you get a sense of what their characters are like in those kinds of situations, but for me those just weren't as interesting and seemed a little bit like padding. Overall, while the narrative is a bit amorphous, in that it just begins and ends without any clear trajectory other than getting to the six different locations, the film is enjoyable for the journey rather than the destination. You get to spend a couple of hours with two really funny men and get to see a lot of Italy in the process. It's nothing really profound, but sometimes you just need to take a vacation and have a good time.
Review of The Trip to Italy
