Steve Coogan and Rob Brydon deliver whip-smart, world-weary banter on amusing Trip to Italy

THE Trip to Italy: Steve Coogan and Rob Brydon serve up a delicious mix of whip-smart, world-weary banter and celebrity impersonation duels.

BRITISH duo Steve Coogan and Rob Brydon return with another wonderful combo of stunning scenery, fine food and impeccably improvised conversation in The Trip to Italy.

Though the formula that proved so effective in 2010’s The Trip (also a winning TV series) has barely been altered, the refined verbal sparring of the leads is even more inspired and amusing than before.

All the latest movie reviews from Leigh Paatsch

Rob Brydon and Steve Coogan in The Trip to Italy.

(Brydon: “Where do you stand on Michael Buble?” Coogan: “His windpipe.”)

And yes, you can rest easy if you’re addicted to Coogan and Brydon’s never-ending love of a sudden celebrity impersonation duel.

The pair’s old standby Michael Caine is always waiting in the wings (with more of an old geezer’s wheeze than before). So too is Al Pacino, Christian Bale, Tom Hardy and a host of other hilariously hammy vocalisations.

Director Michael Winterbottom sticks to the exacting narrative template first forged in The Trip.

The comedians’ Trip to Italy follows the success of 2010’s The Trip.

Not even the introduction of a provincial Italy in robust health as summer becomes autumn can draw focus away from the whip-smart, yet world-weary interplay of Coogan and Brydon.

There is a tension (contrived or otherwise) about the states of their respective careers in TV and film that invariably serves as the starting blocks for a golden run of patter.

Fractional shifts in tone and the occasional striking of a melancholy beat are placed very precisely throughout to keep viewers on their toes.

More, please (The Trip to Australia, maybe?).

The Trip to Italy (M)

Director: Michael Winterbottom (A Mighty Heart)

Starring: Steve Coogan, Rob Brydon

Verdict: Four stars. A blast from the pasta

Rob Brydon and Steve Coogan.