Steve Coogan and Rob Brydon take a break

Bring out your best bottle of wine, and sip and relax with The Trip to Italy, Michael Higgenbottom’s feature film composed from the six-episode BBC television series and his second installment after his film The Trip (2010). British comedians Steve Coogan and Rob Brydon team up once again for a restaurant tour, this time in Italy, and they intend to follow the route of the English romantic poets Percy Bysshe Shelley and Lord Bryon.

Take a sip of wine.

The Trip to Italy will amaze you with its enchanting sea adventures off the Italian coast drenched in soundtracks of opera, classical music, and the sound of the waves; the petit dejeuners taken as evening pulls in the night; the poetry recited on the sea shore; poetry recited; the road trip itself opens up the grandeur of Italy’s natural surroundings and magnificent hotels. You’ll be taken inside the Greta Garbo suite at the Grand Hotel Tremezzo; the Terrace of Infinity where John Huston filmed a scene for his movie Beat The Devil in 1953 starring Humphrey Bogart and Gina Lollabrigida or the Bella Palazzo.

Take another sip of wine … You’re going to need it to watch the rest of this film. James Clarke’s cinematography is breathtaking; his high angle shots flaunt the splendor of Italy, and the tight framing showcases all of its warmth, its passion for life, its cordiality. Well, he has to because hanging out with Coogan and Brydon demands a respect for every rule your mother taught you on being polite no matter how uncomfortable you may feel.

Go ahead, finish off that bottle of wine. It will ease the pain.

The Trip to Italy plays thru Thursday, September 25th at The Ross.

Watch for in-depth Film • Television • & More reviews & commentary.

In the meantime, Catch a film … Share the Popcorn … Feed Your Soul!