I approached viewing Grimsby with the same outlook as I did for most of Cohens other character comedies, even though his most recent solo outings have never reached the same heights (or depths) of comedy gold that Ali G, Borat and The Dictator managed to hit.
Grimsby not only fails to work on the same level story wise as any of SBC's previous efforts, but the gags and comedy within the movie - while funny enough on their own - are barely sketched together with any of the craft that had us all reliving and quoting with our mates long after we had vacated the cinema. Sure, you will probably talk later about some of the more outrageous moments from Grimsby, but there's not one moment that you will quote next week and chuckle over again with those same mates.
It's almost like 99% of the elements of Grimbsy were allocated a single page each.
Plot development - 1 page, Character dialogue (bar Cohen and Strong) - 1 page, Gag setups - 1 page, Gag variations - 1 page.......
Without decent setups for any of the comedy within Grimsby, there is never any real payoff and all you are left with are repeating ass/firecracker jokes, jizzing wildlife, Mark Strong's tea bag commentary and a criminally under used Rebel Wilson reduced to quipping that she "wasn't pregnant, just f*cking fat".
At barely 80mins running time, it's not like there wasn't room to add 15 mins worth of additional dialogue or background to create a richer tapestry of characters to bounce off one another. There is talent in the cast - Rebel Wilson is well known in Australia for her comedy work with Fat Pizza, et al and Ian McShane was devastatingly funny at times while on his Deadwood run. Sadly, neither of these two have anything to work with and are hardly afforded any screen time at all, let alone dialogue, which makes them seem barely caricatures of "secret agent boss" and "main characters gf".
Grimsby's best moments (for me) actually came through the flash backs to the brothers as kids, there's a flicker of a story there and along with it, the potential for shenanigans. The hooligan kids in present day Grimsby also offer a small lashing of genuine laughs - but, like everything else, it is skimmed over far too hastily and it gets lost among the mire.
SBC's best moments on screen in recent times have come in character parts that have shown him to be not only a one dimensional gross out gag master, but also one who can command the finer points of comedy (physically and through delivery). Think of his roles in Sweeney Todd and Hugo as two examples. Perhaps his future lies within roles written by people more attuned to those finer points than he is, because his latest effort, in Grimsby, is a giant elephants d*ck along side the golden chalices of his former glories.
Grimsby not only fails to work on the same level story wise as any of SBC's previous efforts, but the gags and comedy within the movie - while funny enough on their own - are barely sketched together with any of the craft that had us all reliving and quoting with our mates long after we had vacated the cinema. Sure, you will probably talk later about some of the more outrageous moments from Grimsby, but there's not one moment that you will quote next week and chuckle over again with those same mates.
It's almost like 99% of the elements of Grimbsy were allocated a single page each.
Plot development - 1 page, Character dialogue (bar Cohen and Strong) - 1 page, Gag setups - 1 page, Gag variations - 1 page.......
Without decent setups for any of the comedy within Grimsby, there is never any real payoff and all you are left with are repeating ass/firecracker jokes, jizzing wildlife, Mark Strong's tea bag commentary and a criminally under used Rebel Wilson reduced to quipping that she "wasn't pregnant, just f*cking fat".
At barely 80mins running time, it's not like there wasn't room to add 15 mins worth of additional dialogue or background to create a richer tapestry of characters to bounce off one another. There is talent in the cast - Rebel Wilson is well known in Australia for her comedy work with Fat Pizza, et al and Ian McShane was devastatingly funny at times while on his Deadwood run. Sadly, neither of these two have anything to work with and are hardly afforded any screen time at all, let alone dialogue, which makes them seem barely caricatures of "secret agent boss" and "main characters gf".
Grimsby's best moments (for me) actually came through the flash backs to the brothers as kids, there's a flicker of a story there and along with it, the potential for shenanigans. The hooligan kids in present day Grimsby also offer a small lashing of genuine laughs - but, like everything else, it is skimmed over far too hastily and it gets lost among the mire.
SBC's best moments on screen in recent times have come in character parts that have shown him to be not only a one dimensional gross out gag master, but also one who can command the finer points of comedy (physically and through delivery). Think of his roles in Sweeney Todd and Hugo as two examples. Perhaps his future lies within roles written by people more attuned to those finer points than he is, because his latest effort, in Grimsby, is a giant elephants d*ck along side the golden chalices of his former glories.