The Trip
IFC Films | Release Date: June 10, 2011 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
82
METASCORE
Universal acclaim based on 33 Critic Reviews
Positive:
30
Mixed:
3
Negative:
0
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
100
San Francisco ChronicleMick LaSalleJun 16, 2011
So it's two guys traveling, eating and talking. Doesn't sound like much. But it's terrific. Read full review
100
Philadelphia InquirerSteven ReaJun 16, 2011
It's a relentless and relentlessly funny game of one-upmanship as the two men, playing somewhat exaggerated versions of themselves, roam the hills and dales, posh inns and poetic ruins of England's Lake District. Read full review
100
SalonAndrew O'HehirJun 9, 2011
Under the guise of being nothing more than a quasi-documentary about two comedians cutting up and scarfing gourmet cuisine, The Trip may be the wryest and most affecting of all the recent movies about middle-aged male angst. Read full review
100
Time OutJoshua RothkopfJun 7, 2011
Quietly, though, this amuse-bouche of a setup (culled from six episodes of BBC television) blooms into a meal of majestic agony. Coogan and Brydon's competitive bursts of celebrity impressions - Michael Caine comes in for special attention - take on a tone of clingy desperation, as does their jockeying for status in taunts of love, marriage and career. Read full review
91
Entertainment WeeklyOwen GleibermanJun 8, 2011
The Trip looks like a lark - and is - yet there's a sneaky resonance to the way it celebrates what acting means to these two rogue cutups. Read full review
90
TimeRichard CorlissJun 10, 2011
The Trip may have familiar elements - it's pretty much "My Dinner With Andre" pinned to the plot of Alexander Payne's "Sideways" - but the badinage provides an immediate and lasting kick, as well as the spectacle of two champion combatants at the top of their game. Read full review
90
The New York TimesManohla DargisJun 9, 2011
As in many road movies, the trip becomes an occasion for philosophizing, a journey inward and out as the men joust and parry, improvising and entertaining each other, at times by imitating, hilariously, someone else (Michael Caine, Sean Connery). Read full review
90
VarietyJohn AndersonJun 6, 2011
Michael Winterbottom's The Trip is about 20 minutes too long, but the other 90 are among the funniest in recent memory. Read full review
89
Austin ChronicleKimberley JonesJul 14, 2011
Screamingly funny. Like I said, terrific stuff. Read full review
88
St. Louis Post-DispatchJoe WilliamsJul 1, 2011
When the two men compare impersonations of Michael Caine or Sean Connery, Brydon's version is always slightly better - and Coogan knows it. Read full review
88
Washington PostAnn HornadayJun 23, 2011
Have you ever been trapped in the back seat of a car while the old married couple up front bickers and banters for hours? It's either sheer torture or, if the couple happens to be Steve Coogan and Rob Brydon, wildly entertaining. Read full review
88
Chicago TribuneMichael PhillipsJun 18, 2011
The Trip isn't much, but it's more than enough. Read full review
88
Boston GlobeTy BurrJun 16, 2011
What on earth is The Trip, besides hugely enjoyable? Read full review
85
NPRBob MondelloJun 10, 2011
These guys are a hoot, and The Trip is a trip and a half. Read full review
85
MovielineStephanie ZacharekJun 9, 2011
In the early moments of The Trip, you wonder if either actor will survive the enterprise. Read full review
83
Christian Science MonitorPeter RainerJun 10, 2011
The odyssey goes on a bit too long, and I suppose a taste for extra dry British comedy is a requirement, but this "Trip" is well worth one. Read full review
83
IndieWireEric KohnJun 6, 2011
The central appeal of The Trip is that it's only a comedy in bits and pieces. Overall, however, Winterbottom constructs a thoughtful and generally sad portrait of Coogan's persona as a man unsure of his next move. Read full review
80
New York Daily NewsElizabeth WeitzmanJun 10, 2011
As smart as it is side-splittingly silly. Read full review
80
Los Angeles TimesBetsy SharkeyJun 9, 2011
Coogan and Brydon are either quite brilliant at this or just serving up slight variations of their very witty selves. Either way, their travels and squabbles are great fun to watch, the countryside is bucolic, the food mouthwatering. You just wouldn't want to go on a real road trip with them. Read full review
80
Wall Street JournalJoe MorgensternJun 9, 2011
The Trip is probably too long, but I have to say "probably" because I would have been happy with an additional half-hour of Steve and Rob doing more impressions. Read full review
80
Village VoiceJ. HobermanJun 7, 2011
The verbal jousts are droll and the countryside is splendid, although the food - an endless succession of fussy little presentations - may be an acquired taste. Read full review
80
The New YorkerAnthony LaneJun 6, 2011
Best of all -- and the only thing that has really made me laugh at the movies this year -- is a lengthy scene in which Coogan, inspired by the landscape, confesses his desire to star in a traditional costume drama. [13 & 20 June 2011, p. 128]
75
Miami HeraldConnie OgleJul 20, 2011
Uproariously funny. Read full review
75
The Globe and Mail (Toronto)Rick GroenJun 30, 2011
Ambitious and brooding, Coogan has the darker nature; lighthearted and affable, Brydon is all sunny-side up. Happily, both possess a devilishly quick wit and the need to go beyond self-impersonation to the more celebrated variety. Read full review
75
Orlando SentinelRoger MooreJun 17, 2011
The riffing, the one-upsmanship, the off-the-cuff zingers and the singing (ABBA, a great favorite of Coogan's most famous creation, the dizzy talk show host Alan Partridge) make The Trip an easy-going trek down a road well-traveled by these two. Read full review
75
Portland OregonianShawn LevyJun 16, 2011
The Trip doesn't really go anywhere you didn't see it heading, but it's worth the journey. Read full review
75
Chicago Sun-TimesRoger EbertJun 16, 2011
This is a great deal more entertaining than it sounds, in large part because the two actors are gifted mimics - Brydon the better one, although Coogan doesn't think so. Read full review
75
New York PostKyle SmithJun 10, 2011
The loose feel and sense for random comedy (as when a bore suddenly starts lecturing Coogan about the geological details of the cliff he is standing on) are spiffy. Read full review
75
The A.V. ClubNoel MurrayJun 9, 2011
Make no mistake: The Trip is a fine, funny movie. But there's no reason why it couldn't have been even finer and funnier. Read full review
70
Chicago ReaderBen SachsJun 16, 2011
The movie offers enough good one-liners, both comic and ruminative, to hold one's interest, but don't expect much else. Read full review
50
SlateDana StevensJun 11, 2011
A peripatetic comedy about two comedians on a jaunt around the north of England, alternately amuses, bores, and annoys, just like its two hilariously intolerable protagonists. Read full review
50
Slant MagazineAndrew SchenkerJun 5, 2011
Steve Coogan and Rob Brydon's shtick - a relentless verbal sparring comprised of dueling impressions, poetry recitations, absurdist riffing, and comic one-upmanship - works best in small doses. Read full review
40
The Hollywood ReporterRay BennettJun 7, 2011
The project suffers badly from being largely improvised as the pair fall back on familiar impressions and old jokes. Lazy and indulgent, it smacks of being what the British call a "jolly," that is a freebie with no obligation to turn in work afterward. Read full review
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