The Trip to Spain (2017)

Directed by: Michael Winterbottom | 110 minutes | comedy | Actors: Steve Coogan, Rob Brydon, Marta Barrio, Claire Keelan, Tom Clegg, Justin Edwards, Rebecca Johnson, Timothy Leach, Kerry Shale, Kyle Soller, Margo Stilley

A good recipe can last for ages. In the comedy film and TV series ‘The Trip’ (2010), comedians Steve Coogan and Rob Brydon traveled to the Lake District for a culinary trip. For six days they enjoyed English landscapes, food in renowned restaurants, luxury hotels and some good music along the way. Between meals they talked about aging, women, high and low culture, and which of them could best imitate. This concept was revived four years later, only then in culinary paradise Italy. We are now four years later and we meet our comic heroes again, this time in summer Spain.

To fully understand the concept, you need to know that Coogan and Brydon play a believable version of themselves, while all the other characters are fictional. For example, assistants, progeny and wives appear who do not exist in reality. They are played by actors.

Complicated? Not really. ‘The Trip to Spain’, a copy of ‘The Trip to Italy’ in almost every detail, is above all a relaxed journey in the company of two comedians. Comedians who are already very funny as individuals, but as a duo have great chemistry. Coogan the cultural snob versus Brydon the family man, Coogan the cosmopolitan versus the humble Welsh boy Brydon. Of course they try to outdo each other again this time with imitations. We remember Michael Caine and Roger Moore from previous trips, new ones are Mick Jagger, John Hurt, Paul McCartney and David Bowie.

The landscapes, churches, monasteries and restaurants are beautiful again, the dishes will make you salivate and we are happy to see assistant Emma and photographer Yolanda again. The more serious conversations are mainly about the autumn years of existence. The comedians are pretty much in the final stages of the midlife crisis. Coogan’s career is going downhill, Brydon’s career is going uphill, Brydon’s private life is stable, Coogan’s not in the least. But really none of that matters. This is a concept that you can repeat ad infinitum, because the power is in the set, the chemistry and the humor. We will see them again in four years, hopefully in France.