The Trip to Italy

As a huge fan of British comedy, I am extremely familiar with the works of both Steve Coogan and Rob Brydon. I felt "The Trip" captured these two wonderfully and I found the whole film charming, funny, and a poignant insight into their characters. But that magic I felt in the first film is strangely absent in this sequel. Gone were the long sequences of obviously ad-libbed scenes where the two gifted actors just riffed off each other, replaced instead by too much script and rehearsed moments. I also felt the actions of Brydon's character were in direct violation with what we know of him from the first film. I do acknowledge that there were attempts to deal with this breach of character, but not enough to repair the damage in my eyes. On the whole this film felt forced where the original felt fresh and vibrant. If I'd not seen the first film this might have fared better with me, but as it is, it feels stale and not representative of what these two can really do together. 3/5

The Trip to Italy on Netflix

Alan Partridge

Coogan will never get back the magic of Partridge's first series, but this was a fitting chapter, pretty funny. 3/5

Alan Partridge on Netflix

Night at the Museum

This family comedy was quite a bit funnier than I expected with some really good performances. Well done. 3/5

Night at the Museum on Netflix

Philomena

This Frears drama is beautiful, poignant & emotional with wonderful acting, but Best Picture worthy it's not. Don't get me wrong - it's a fantastic film. But I expect a level of immortality in a nominee & I don't think Philomena had it. 4/5

Philomena on Netflix

What Masie Knew

This drama about families is just perfectly acted & scripted - I loved the direction they took. Lovely. 4/5

What Masie Knew on Netflix

Ruby Sparks

Zoe Kazan's wonderful script takes risks & dark turns & is worth every moment. She & Dano are magical in this. I continue to maintain that Paul Dano is the most underrated actor of his generation - far too few realize how talented he is. 4/5

Ruby Sparks on Netflix