​FILMS

grimsby

There's nothing grim about Grimsby.

2016 review number 27:

Grimsby: (Comedy/Action): 85 out of 100: The funniest movie for at least a year! Sacha Baron Cohen at the top of his game. Rude, crude, filthy, but absolutely hilarious with numerous laugh-out-loud moments. So many laughs in fact that I found myself wiping away the tears from laughing so much. It certainly helps if you are a Sacha Baron Cohen fan because he is politically incorrect and his humour is guaranteed to offend anyone who is sensitive to issues like AIDS, religion, sexual abuse and the disabled. Of course comedy is so subjective that you mightn't find any of this funny but I had such a fun time, I cannot wait to see it again to check out the jokes I might have missed out the first time around from laughing too much. 

 

Norman aka Nobby (Sacha Baron Cohen) is an English football hooligan who is happily married to Lindsey (Rebel Wilson). They live together with their nine children in Grimsby in the north of England. He has a brother, Sebastian (Mark Strong), whom he hasn't seen for 28 years as they were separated when their parents died. What Nobby doesn't know is that Sebastian is a top MI6 agent who doesn't reveal his identity. He is on a case where is attempting to prevent the assassination of humanitarian, Kate (Penelope Cruz) when Nobby spots him and inadvertently causes him to kill the director-general of the World Health Organisation. With only Margaret (Isla Fisher) in the operations room advising him, Sebastian must rely on his brother to help him catch the real perpetrators of the crime. 

 

There's plenty of gross out humour on display ranging from an elephant bukkake scene to Nobby sucking out the poison from his brother's scrotum. Other standout funny scenes include a case of mistaken identity when Nobby masquerades as his brother to obtain vital information and Nobby searching for Sebastian in a spa therapy centre. And if you like celebrities being lampooned, people like Bill Cosby, Donald Trump and Daniel Radcliffe are fair game for the jokes that are heaped upon them.

 

Not only are there laughs aplenty but there are also exciting sequences that would please action enthusiasts. The point of view scenes that help Sebastian with locating his targets might be frenetic but they inject variety into the typical chase scenes. There's even a touch of sensitive family bonding scenes when Nobby and Sebastian recall what they got up to during their childhood. Although the flashback scenes are helpful in providing their adult lives with a backstory, they do occasionally encroach into the comedy and action territory.

 

The people of Grimsby were apparently annoyed with the depiction of their town but what is a Sacha Baron Cohen film without a little controversy? The run down appearance of the town and hooliganism representing the townsfolk add a lot to the comedic appeal of the film.

 

Supporting actors like Isla Fisher and Ian McShane don't get much of a look in because Grimsby truly belongs to Baron Cohen and Strong. One could say that Baron Cohen is typecast as the unintelligent Nobby but he plays these sorts of characters so well. Strong is more of the straight man to Baron Cohen's bumbling fool but it's the situations they find themselves in that promote the laugh factor. 

 

Grimsby is known as The Brothers Grimsby in America. The film could be called anything and it wouldn't matter for it's the material that makes it so much fun. This is one of the best gutter humour movies ever released and definitely worthy of repeat viewings if you're a fan of this type of comedy, and especially if you appreciate Sacha Baron Cohen's brand of humour.

 

Starring Sacha Baron Cohen, Mark Strong, Isla Fisher, Rebel Wilson and Penélope Cruz

(83 mins)

Parental advice: Coarse language, violence, nudity, sexual references, drug use and adult themes

Additional scene during or after credits: Yes, after the credits Nobby asks a man for directions then shoots him.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nnOJ3wD3gxQ (Movie trailer)

 

(Reviewed on Thursday 18th February, 2016)

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