Grimsby - directed by Louis Letterier
Starring: Sacha Baron Cohen, Mark Strong, Penelope Cruz, Rebel Wilson, Isla Fisher, Scott Adkins, Ian McShane, Annabelle Wallis, Tamsin Egerton, Gabourey Sidibe, Johnny Vegas, Sam Hazeldine
Screenplay: Sacha Baron Cohen, Phil Johnston & Peter Baynham
Music Score by: Davis Buckley, Erran Baron Cohen
Cinematography: Oliver Wood
Edited by: Jonathan Amos, Evan Henke, James Thomas
Running Time: 82 minutes
Rated: R16 - Profanity, some very gross sexual scenes, violence
Grimsby is one of the most obvious, lowest common denominator movies that I have ever seen.
The punch line to every joke and every sight gag can be spotted miles out from its arrival.
Even the soundtrack choices are glaringly obvious!
A drinking scene? Chumbawumba's 'Tubthumping'......
A walk through the grimness of Grimsby?.... Blur's 'Parklife'....
And so on.
The shallowness and complete lack of fresh ideas in this movie are all confirmed by that running time - a mere 82 minutes.
For what its worth the set up here is that two long separated Brothers live very different lives.
One is an MI6 super spy, the other a beer guzzling, football hooligan who lives in Grimsby surrounded by loutish friends, a large number of kids and a wife played by Rebel Wilson.
They are reunited in the middle of a terrorist event.
What remaining plot there is makes the Zoolander movies look like sharply scripted master works.
I know.... not every movie has to be sophisticated with finely tunes plots and witty exchanges.
But there is a good low brow and then there is "Grimsby".
Writer-star Sacha Baron Cohen does actually know the difference.
His previous movies "Borat" and "Bruno" and much of his tv work on "Da Ali G Show" showed a sharp eye for satire with effective, timely use of the gross-out.
In this film that goes completely out of the window and instead we are assaulted from go to wo with a barrage of jokes that fall flat and a host of quality co-stars who are often left looking embarrassed.
It is great that Mark Strong, Ian McShane and Penelope Cruz are willing to lend their considerable talent to a crowd pleasing comedy.
They are all actors known for having impressive lists of credits in some major movies and there is no denying there prowess across many genres.
But in this film Mark Strong has a scene in which an elephant ejaculates on his face and another in which poison is sucked from his scrotum.
Both in close-up and neither leaving anything at all to the imagination.
Now I am not saying that these scenes are not funny (I actually liked one of them) but I would bet that the scenes themselves were written as starting points in the development of the script rather than as progressions.
The script uses the weakest of links to get from one scene or location to another.
Characters exist solely to justify the next gross out moment.
Gabourey Sidibe whose Oscar nomination for "Precious"must have seemed a lifetime ago plays a maid in one scene.
This character exists purely to allow for a sex scene.
Another character played by the lovely Annabelle Wallis who next stars in the Tom Cruise Mummy movie is a nymphomaniac whose sole purpose is to talk at cross purposes with Baron Cohen when his genitals and a large bowel movement are confused.
This movie is an odd choice for director Louis Letterier who is best known for his action-centric films "Transporter", "Transporter 2", "Wrath of the Titans", "The Incredible Hulk" and "Now You See Me".
It is no surprise then that the strongest elements of "Grimsby" are the action scenes.
There are a couple of pretty decent first person action sequences loaded with car chases, foot chases, shooting, jumping and punch-ups.
Scott Adkins looks like he belongs in a much better action flick but his impressive physicality is utilised so briefly that its a wonder they employed a 'name' actor for the part.
Nonetheless Letterier knows how to stitch action together - any of the movies listed above serve as ample evidence.
He also showed a talent for light, fun stuff with "Now You See Me" which starred, amongst others, Isla Fisher- real life wife of Sacha Baron Cohen.
Fisher has a substantial role in "Grimsby" - an underwritten one that she plays with a baffling accent choice that I want to say is maybe South African??
Who knows and frankly it doesn't matter.
The supporting characters like the plot exist only because it has to have something resembling a story.
With each new Sacha Baron Cohen movie I am more and more convinced that he is a one trick pony whose talent is diluted a little more each time at bat.
To paraphrase Bilbo in "The Fellowship of the Ring".... 'like butter scraped over too much bread'.
This stuff is getting weaker and less and less effective each time.
Late in "Grimsby" he attempts a sort of wrap up justification speech to sum up the entire movie.
He talks about his people from the poorest streets of Grimsby being considered scum but that they are the sort of scum that builds the hospitals that are being torn down and who fight the wars that the 'rich bastards' start.
Fine if not for the fact that for the preceding seventy five minutes these same folk have been portrayed as leukemia faking welfare scammers, thieves, thugs, drunkards and screw ups who allowed a major world leader to be killed through their incompetence.
It's the same have your cake and eat it too attitude that Baron Cohen mostly gets away with in "Borat" (Eastern European weirdo), "Bruno" (flamboyantly cliched gay weirdo) and "The Dictator" (oppressive, racist Middle Eastern weirdo)
But not here.
"Grimsby" is funny approximately three times, gross about thirteen times and cringe inducing about thirty times.
Watching Mark Strong drop his pants and teabag Baron Cohen is bad enough but some of the dialogue that he is required to spout is just too much.
Penelope Cruz now has the distinction of starring back to back in two of the worst movies I have seen this year..... "Zoolander 2" and now this.
Amazingly Strong manages to come out of "Grimsby" with dignity intact thanks to his considerable talent and charisma and Penelope Cruz the same by virtue of a screen time limited to about 5 minutes.
This movie thinks that it is "Kingsman: The Secret Service" meets "Borat" but the dire script isn't as remotely smart as either and it is more "Dude Where's My Car" meets "Jackass".
There was one audience member audibly laughing at the screening tonight and his guffaws sounded very much like one of the pub seat warmers on the screen.
If this movie finds a devoted audience in the same year that Donald Trump looks headed to the Whitehouse it may be time for our species to have a good long, hard look at itself.
RATING: 55 / 100
CONCLUSION: Grimsby is a movie that relies completely on gross outs. Most of the jokes hit with a dull thud and the gross-outs and action are not enough to prop up the entertainment. Credit for some good (seemingly tacked on) swipes at Donald Trump though.
Screenplay: Sacha Baron Cohen, Phil Johnston & Peter Baynham
Music Score by: Davis Buckley, Erran Baron Cohen
Cinematography: Oliver Wood
Edited by: Jonathan Amos, Evan Henke, James Thomas
Running Time: 82 minutes
Rated: R16 - Profanity, some very gross sexual scenes, violence
Grimsby is one of the most obvious, lowest common denominator movies that I have ever seen.
The punch line to every joke and every sight gag can be spotted miles out from its arrival.
Even the soundtrack choices are glaringly obvious!
A drinking scene? Chumbawumba's 'Tubthumping'......
A walk through the grimness of Grimsby?.... Blur's 'Parklife'....
And so on.
The shallowness and complete lack of fresh ideas in this movie are all confirmed by that running time - a mere 82 minutes.
For what its worth the set up here is that two long separated Brothers live very different lives.
One is an MI6 super spy, the other a beer guzzling, football hooligan who lives in Grimsby surrounded by loutish friends, a large number of kids and a wife played by Rebel Wilson.
They are reunited in the middle of a terrorist event.
What remaining plot there is makes the Zoolander movies look like sharply scripted master works.
I know.... not every movie has to be sophisticated with finely tunes plots and witty exchanges.
But there is a good low brow and then there is "Grimsby".
Writer-star Sacha Baron Cohen does actually know the difference.
His previous movies "Borat" and "Bruno" and much of his tv work on "Da Ali G Show" showed a sharp eye for satire with effective, timely use of the gross-out.
In this film that goes completely out of the window and instead we are assaulted from go to wo with a barrage of jokes that fall flat and a host of quality co-stars who are often left looking embarrassed.
It is great that Mark Strong, Ian McShane and Penelope Cruz are willing to lend their considerable talent to a crowd pleasing comedy.
They are all actors known for having impressive lists of credits in some major movies and there is no denying there prowess across many genres.
But in this film Mark Strong has a scene in which an elephant ejaculates on his face and another in which poison is sucked from his scrotum.
Both in close-up and neither leaving anything at all to the imagination.
Now I am not saying that these scenes are not funny (I actually liked one of them) but I would bet that the scenes themselves were written as starting points in the development of the script rather than as progressions.
The script uses the weakest of links to get from one scene or location to another.
Characters exist solely to justify the next gross out moment.
Gabourey Sidibe whose Oscar nomination for "Precious"must have seemed a lifetime ago plays a maid in one scene.
This character exists purely to allow for a sex scene.
Another character played by the lovely Annabelle Wallis who next stars in the Tom Cruise Mummy movie is a nymphomaniac whose sole purpose is to talk at cross purposes with Baron Cohen when his genitals and a large bowel movement are confused.
 |
| At least this scene is efficient in its wasting of talent... two at once (Gabourey Sidibe and Annabelle Wallis) |
It is no surprise then that the strongest elements of "Grimsby" are the action scenes.
There are a couple of pretty decent first person action sequences loaded with car chases, foot chases, shooting, jumping and punch-ups.
Scott Adkins looks like he belongs in a much better action flick but his impressive physicality is utilised so briefly that its a wonder they employed a 'name' actor for the part.
Nonetheless Letterier knows how to stitch action together - any of the movies listed above serve as ample evidence.
He also showed a talent for light, fun stuff with "Now You See Me" which starred, amongst others, Isla Fisher- real life wife of Sacha Baron Cohen.
Fisher has a substantial role in "Grimsby" - an underwritten one that she plays with a baffling accent choice that I want to say is maybe South African??
Who knows and frankly it doesn't matter.
The supporting characters like the plot exist only because it has to have something resembling a story.
 |
| An early scene that sets the tone.... it only gets worse from here |
To paraphrase Bilbo in "The Fellowship of the Ring".... 'like butter scraped over too much bread'.
This stuff is getting weaker and less and less effective each time.
Late in "Grimsby" he attempts a sort of wrap up justification speech to sum up the entire movie.
He talks about his people from the poorest streets of Grimsby being considered scum but that they are the sort of scum that builds the hospitals that are being torn down and who fight the wars that the 'rich bastards' start.
Fine if not for the fact that for the preceding seventy five minutes these same folk have been portrayed as leukemia faking welfare scammers, thieves, thugs, drunkards and screw ups who allowed a major world leader to be killed through their incompetence.
It's the same have your cake and eat it too attitude that Baron Cohen mostly gets away with in "Borat" (Eastern European weirdo), "Bruno" (flamboyantly cliched gay weirdo) and "The Dictator" (oppressive, racist Middle Eastern weirdo)
But not here.
"Grimsby" is funny approximately three times, gross about thirteen times and cringe inducing about thirty times.
Watching Mark Strong drop his pants and teabag Baron Cohen is bad enough but some of the dialogue that he is required to spout is just too much.
Penelope Cruz now has the distinction of starring back to back in two of the worst movies I have seen this year..... "Zoolander 2" and now this.
Amazingly Strong manages to come out of "Grimsby" with dignity intact thanks to his considerable talent and charisma and Penelope Cruz the same by virtue of a screen time limited to about 5 minutes.
This movie thinks that it is "Kingsman: The Secret Service" meets "Borat" but the dire script isn't as remotely smart as either and it is more "Dude Where's My Car" meets "Jackass".
There was one audience member audibly laughing at the screening tonight and his guffaws sounded very much like one of the pub seat warmers on the screen.
If this movie finds a devoted audience in the same year that Donald Trump looks headed to the Whitehouse it may be time for our species to have a good long, hard look at itself.
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