The Trip To Italy

(M) ★★★½

Director: Michael Winterbottom.

Cast: Steve Coogan, Rob Brydon, Rosie Fellner, Claire Keelan, Marta Barrio, Timothy Leach.

"Dear Diary, I can't help but feel like Coogan is looking over my shoulder constantly, reading everything I write."

Coogan and Brydon are back for another serve of good food, great locations and hilarious impersonations in this sequel to The Trip.

If you've seen the first one, you're already on board for this one because effectively The Trip To Italy is more of the same.

Winterbottom has taken the six episodes of season two of the TV series and boiled them down into a feature length film, in which Coogan and Brydon re-team to travel through Italy under the pretence of writing some more articles (or possibly a book) about the food and frivolities they enjoy, all the while listening to Alanis Morissette's Jagged Little Pill (as it's the only CD they have with them).

Once again, the starring pair play fictionalised versions of themselves, with the main difference being that Brydon is the focus character this time - the ups and downs of his marriage and career provide the closest thing the film has to a narrative.

Through the examination of these stylised renderings of the leads, The Trip To Italy meditates on the nature of fame and ageing, but it doesn't delve too deep - the whole thing is really just a wonderful excuse to show off the Italian countryside and coastline while Coogan and Brydon bust out their impeccable impersonations.

Their Michael Caine impressions are a favourite, but we also get to hear their skills as Hugh Grant, Robert De Niro, Anthony Hopkins, Roger Moore, and Michael Parkinson, and it's hilarious.

The whole thing is a thin and flimsy travelogue but the banter between the pair make it better and far funnier than it has any right to be.