Two British television stars take a drive through Italy for a magazine article, and one of them gets the chance to have a major role in an American movie about the mob. Presumably this is all fiction, because it did originally seem to be a straight travelogue...until you hear how weird the initial conversation gets. You see fancy meals being prepared and eaten, the pair going to posh hotels, pictures of beautiful scenery, many references to Byron, Shelley, and other writers of that era...and then you realize the locations of the hotels and restaurants in the movie are never identified.There is no real plot to the movie, which has a lot of chatter between the two leads, as well as their (fictional?) families. And much of that involves impersonations of various British actors. Mildly entertaining, but the whole is not greater than the sum of its parts.

Steve Coogan and Rob Brydon are on the road again with director Michael Winterbottom, this time in Italy. There's not much else to say about the plot of "The Trip to Italy" unless you're unfamiliar with 2010's "The Trip," in which case go watch that movie first. Not because you need to know information about the first, but you need to know where the whole shtick is coming from."Trip to Italy" is more impersonations, more gorgeous scenery (the Amalfi Coast, seriously …), more plated food, more phone calls to loved ones back home, more poetry, more everything from the northern England "trip." It's a formula that worked the first time because of the wild improvisational talents of its leads but also the way they stay grounded. By and large it works here, only the novelty has worn off a bit.Story-wise, Winterbottom has flipped the script in a couple subtle but key ways, starting with Rob calling Steve to invite him to Italy as he's become the food writer now, or at least equal with Steve. This is the first of many role-reversals in store for the fictional versions of Rob and Steve, whose lives have clearly changed since the last trip. Although these persona narratives are shifting, they're still as goofy, chummy, career-focused and fixated on their age and legacies as ever.Mortality is a particular focus of conversation. Aging, their sex appeal, what they might still accomplish before their deaths – their time in Vesuvius, for example, leaves them "petrified" as Rob jokes. Winterbottom definitely steers the dialogue in this direction more purposefully than last time, but Steve and Rob keep it lighthearted and enjoyable while still allowing for some salient ideas to emerge.The comedy stays the course as well, with a number of callbacks to jokes from the first film including brief Michael Caine bits and James Bond impressions. In most comedy sequels, that would be annoying, cheap and a sign of a terrible cash-grabbing middle finger to the audience who deserves some original material. But "The Trip" resembled a real-life road trip and when two friends go on a second trip together, they often recall the jokes that gave them a laugh and good memories the last time.We do get some new impersonations and quite a bit of Alanis Morrisette karaoke, the least fitting backdrop for a tour of Italia as you could ever imagine. The laugh-out-loud moments get a bit scarcer and the impersonations a bit more grating – though in fairness I did watch "The Trip" very recently so those who've taken a longer hiatus won't likely feel the same."The Trip to Italy" loses a bit of comic luster as sequels tend to do, but the feeling of being on a road trip vacation that made "The Trip" so pleasant washes over you yet again. The ending leaves a bit to be desired but on the whole it's a satisfying continuation of the antics and style that fans of "The Trip" effortlessly enjoyed.~Steven CThanks for reading. Visit Movie Muse Reviews for more

I was hesitant taking another trip w/ Steve and Rob in that I so much loved the first film and thought this film might be a letdown and was never going to expectations set by the first film. No need for worries, this film was just as good, just as funny and better still, both Steve and Rob have remained (aside from Coogan's haircut) them old selves, changing little from when we left them in Northern England, a perfect mixture of affability and arrogance, quick witted, sometimes to the point of absurdity, sprinkled with a tinge of melancholy. If you love British humour, travel & beautiful scenery, fine food, movies, literature and poetry, and beautiful women......(pretty much all things worth living for)... than this is the movie to watch.Steve: (looking at a beautiful hotel receptionist walking past) She's has a lovely gait.Rob: Yes, probably padlocked.Hilarious!

Rob Brydon invites Steve Coogan on another food tour commissioned by The Observer. Steve is on hiatus from his American show and decides to go along with the Italian trip. Steve is off alcohol. They discuss the lives and work of Shelley and Byron. The married Rob has a fling with British ex-pat Lucy (Rosie Fellner). They eat a lot of pasta and sing along to Alanis Morissette. They do a lot of impressions both good and bad, all comical. Rob has an audition for a minor role in an American movie. They are joined by Steve's assistant Emma (Claire Keelan) and later on, his son.I liked the first movie 'The Trip'. I'm not familiar with Brydon and I only know Coogan from his movies. In the first movie, there are obvious moments of a written story but it's the charm of an easy friendship that is truly compelling. It's not real but I get a sense that it could be a version of reality. This one starts in a similar space with impressions of Michael Caine. Coogan is a little sour but ragging on Tom Hardy as Bane seems to help. The movie goes a bit wonky when Rob starts flirting with Lucy. The moment he cheats on his wife and little girl is when the movie struggled for me. The easy charm of the original becomes a highly fictionalize drama. The problem is that there isn't enough drama for it to be compelling. There is a difference between two friends hanging out and two fictional characters hanging out. I prefer the fictional characters to do something.