kevin sharon’s review published on Letterboxd:
I think it's really hard to get the balance of reality and absurdity right in a "faux documentary". If you try to hard to convince the audience it's 'real' and that can feel a bit mean and ultimately pointless (see: 'Exit through the Giftshop').
I found 'The Trip' to be quite funny and I really enjoyed the interplay between the two characters, ultimately I thought the premise was a bit too thin to carry and entire film. Rob, the domesticated homebody, and Steve the lonely wanna be superstar were a little too broad for my taste. The repeated scenes of Coogan wistfully looking through windows and looking dour was a bit much. I get it! Ennui! And Brydon doing his Hugh Grant impression on the phone with his wife was just ewww.
All that said, both performers are so likable and try so hard to entertain when one-up-ing one another. There's a genius and absurdity of them twisting and bending a James Bond one-liner over and over again that threads through out the film.
I came out of this viewing wanting to revisit Tristram Shandy: A Cock and Bull Story more than anything. A film with all the one-ups-manship and the contrast of the real life Coogan and Brydon is less central to the premise of the entire film.