The Brothers Grimsby (2016) User Reviews

Sickening, Depraved, Disgusting and ... Hilarious!

[vinnieboards · 7/10 · 8 May 2022]

Sacha Baron Cohen has ploughed a career as a divisive and controversial figure in the comedy world. From Ali G to Borat, Cohen has proven adept at satirising popular's themes. Cohen's humour often exceeds the limits of good taste whilst conning ordinary people into revealing their abhorrent views in mockumentary style.

The Brothers Grimsby is no exception in the toilet humour stakes - the movie is often depraved, sickening and disgusting. And yet, it must be said that unlike much of the comedy trash put out by movie studios today, there are genuine comedic moments that make you laugh out loud. For this reason, the film is worth watching. Playing a character obviously inspired by Liam Gallagher, Cohen offers a range of puerile, immature and foul-mouthed gags that may be in bad taste or potty-mouthed but are often incredibly funny.

This comic bravery makes the film watchable, although certain elements were tough to entertain (the elephant scene, sucking out poison and so on). But if you dig through the depravity, there are some fabulous comic one-liners and Cohen is supported brilliantly by Mark Strong (who plays it straight) and Rebel Wilson (who really doesn't!)

To be honest, creating a film that delivers such unashamed filth and yet makes you laugh uncontrollably is a work of genius. Pushing the boundaries of decency is Cohen's trump card and if you have the stomach for it, its worth a watch.

Liam Gallagher's best role to date!

[Thorgal67 · 7/10 · 8 September 2021]

The good thing about Sacha Baron Cohen's movies is that you know exactly what you are in for when you step into the cinema.

Anybody who is offended at the crude humour in SBC's movies, has only themselves to blame.

So what can you expect? Funny dialogues, a nonsense script, hilarious jokes (and yes, also some hit/miss ones but that is to be expected with this rollercoaster), decent action scenes and lots and lots of dirty, filthy, cringe-worhty scenes. Love it!

The funniest thing: casting Liam Gallagher as Nobby and starting the movie with a song by Blur and having Noel Gallagher sing "Cigarettes & Alcohol". You have to hand it to SBC: he does not leave a stone unturned in his quest to offend people.

Hardcore comedy for adults.

[Kdosda_Hegen · 6/10 · 22 January 2021]

This film is nuts. It's so hardcore, perverted and sick that I would not recommend it to most people. But the ones who love hardcore perverted films once in a while will have a treat with this one.

So grim its good

[theros-05518 · 7/10 · 20 January 2022]

That was insane.

The over the top scenes where they just take things to the next level left me gasping for air half from laughing half in surprise. There are a few that are going to be hard to forget.

Surprisingly good action scenes every now and then and otherwise well timed humor.

I watched it alone and would not watch it with the wife, but I am going to try just to see her either cringe or laugh at the same scenes. As an experiment.

mix bag of outrageous humor

[SnoopyStyle · 6/10 · 21 December 2017]

Nobby Butcher (Sacha Baron Cohen) is an idiot football hooligan from Grimsby and has 11 children with Dawn (Rebel Wilson). He is looking to reconnect with estranged brother Sebastian Graves (Mark Strong). Sebastian is now a gunman for an MI6 offshoot. His investigation leads to actress philanthropist Rhonda George (Penelope Cruz). Nobby's interference causes Sebastian to be blamed for an assassination. Sebastian is forced to team up with his secret brother Nobby.

Nobby is partially annoying. Once I get over it, his idiocy is a little funny. It's all silly and outrageous. I'm half rolling my eyes, and half smirking in disbelief. I'm bored with the poop jokes and the more obvious stuff. The shock humor is over the top. On the other hand, SBC often hits the audience with some unexpected humor. It's a real mix bag.

Non-stop gags...

[paul_haakonsen · 6/10 · 9 June 2018]

Normally I am not overly keen on the movies that Sacha Baron Cohen stars in, because he is fairly singular and monotonous in his movies. As in if you've seen one of his movies, you have essentially seen all.

However I decided to give the movie a chance because it had Mark Strong on the cast list, and also because my wife said it was a hilarious movie. It turned out that this was actually a rather enjoyable and funny movie. There were some really funny moments throughout the course of the movie. And yes, I did laugh a lot throughout this movie as the endless gags kept coming.

The storyline was a good combination of serious plot and silly comedy. And I must admit that this was one of Sascha Baron Cohen's better movies actually.

The Brothers Grimsby" is good for an evening of cheap laughs, but I doubt this is a movie that you will pick up and watch more than once as it doesn't seem to have enough contents to support more than a single viewing.

Incredibly Raunchy & Silly Yet I Laughed at Times

[larrys3 · 4/10 · 26 June 2016]

Incredibly raunchy and silly, although it's hard for me to admit, I found myself laughing out loud a number of times during the movie. Warning: the elephant scene, as other reviewers have mentioned, could keep you grossed out and ruin your appetite for the next few weeks, or months.

I'm sure by this point anyone who elects to watch this film, starring Sacha Baron Cohen and Mark Strong, pretty much knows what they're in for. My biggest problem, since I found parts of the movie funny, could be to regard this movie as a guilty pleasure or seek therapy immediately?

Puerile comedy slapstick - I loved it!

[iannicholson · 9/10 · 26 May 2016]

I don't think I have ever written a review on IMDb before, but on this occasion, I feel I must.

Thank you, Mr Cohen for giving me the biggest belly laughs I've had from any film in years.

This film is comedy gold. Sure, the story-line is wafer-thin, but who cares? Although on this turn-out, this film is a bit of departure from Cohen's previous outings - less mockumentary and more narrative, but it is gag after gag - non-stop. My sides were hurting before the end of the first act.

Some of the other sourpuss reviews here miss the point. If I go to see a comedy, I'm not expecting an Oscar winning, thought-provoking drama. I want escapism. I'm willing to suspend my disbelief completely in exchange for a few good laughs.

This film delivers that in spades - and more.

For when a film causes you to bury your mouth in your elbow in fear of disturbing your fellow film-goers with your laughter, you know you're having a good time.

And that's all I want from a movie.

Thanks again, Mr. Cohen!

There are some scenes in this movie I can never un-see. That being said...I really really enjoyed this and recommend it.

[cosmo_tiger · 7/10 · 17 June 2016]

"We're the butcher boys of Grimsby. They'll never split us up." Sebastian (Strong) is an undercover assassin who is the best at what he does. His brother Nobby (Cohen) is not as smart, but loves his wife and family. The two haven't seen each other in many many years so when Nobby finally locates him he is incredibly happy, but when he messes up an attempt by Sebastian to save someone both brothers are instantly wanted by the police. Now, Nobby and Sebastian must out run the law, and find a way to save the world. This is a movie I was very worried about. Cohen, to me, is very hit or miss. I though Borat was funny, hated Bruno, loved The Dictator, and the previews for this movie didn't really get me excited to watch it. After seeing this I understood why the previews were the way they are, most of this movie is so over the top and offensive pretty much the only things they could show were in the previews. There are some scenes in this movie I can never un- see. That being said...I really really enjoyed this. I watched it alone and laughed out loud over and over again, while at the same time turning away and watching through my fingers. Cohen has a history of pushing the envelope and he really holds nothing back in this one. Overall, hilarious and extremely over the top and offensive, if you are easily offended skip this one. I thought it was great and for those that can handle it without getting upset I would recommend it. I very surprisingly give this a B+.

It makes you want to disappear into an elephant's uterus

[mjjusa-1 · 1/10 · 12 March 2016]

Sorry for the summary, but it references just one of the grotesque and godawful 'comedy' bits in this grotesque and godawful movie. There is a question thread on IMDb asking if others thought The Brothers Grimsby was similar to The Kingsman...yes it is...in that it is a movie. Nothing else in terms of script, direction, acting, humor, action, taste, interest, plot, excitement, sexiness, I could go on, is even remotely similar. Would that it honored all three of Thomas Hobbes description of life in the 17th Century: nasty, brutish, and short. It is indeed the first two, after the first twenty minutes I hoped for the 'short' but it seemed hours long.

Sasha can be forgiven. In the narrow, nasty and brutish, movie category he has invented he has no place to go except nastier and brutish-er to bring the fans in. But, I was a fan, and went to see The Brothers Grimsby as a fan, but (spoiler alert) spending more than five seconds in an elephant's uterus as said uterus is utilized by bulls in what seems to be an elephant porn movie was a Grimsby too far.

But, Mark Strong? Did he, at one time, aspire to be an elephant gynecologist? Did he commit some sort of movie mortal sin that required absolute degradation of his actor's soul as penance?

I'm all for gross humor, gross movies, and comedic anarchy of all sorts, but The Brothers Grimsby is but grim, and I'm embarrassed that I stayed until the end.

Either Raises Or Lowers The Bar On Filth

[Lugodoc · 10/10 · 10 August 2016]

Good Lord this is filthy, and I laughed right through it, sometimes crying tears. I can totally see why some people would hate it, many scenes are hard to watch. The "plot" cracks along and the jokes are pretty much continuous, and filthy. Mark Strong not only makes a convincing James Bond type secret agent but is as equally committed to embracing the film's sense of humour, following Cohen into new filthy territory. Cohen, as usual, has no internal breaks and doesn't seem to be even trying to figure out where he should stop, he just keeps piling on the filth to levels hitherto undreamed of. The elephant bukake scene nearly broke me.

Being drunk will help, but you have to be able to enjoy filthy humour. Did I mention it's filthy?

Don't see that movie when you are eating something

[hkling-19994 · 6/10 · 24 August 2020]

Don't see that movie when you are eating something. If you are eating something, you will squirt something out of your mouth.

Love it or hate it

[kosmasp · 5/10 · 5 December 2016]

And I'm not telling you what to do, I'm kind of telling you what possibilities are after watching this. It is very likely that it won't leave you cold. It's almost impossible to not have strong feelings towards what you will get served. And all that with something that stretches the word "quality" so wide, you could fit a ton of (insert something to your liking here) ... Does that sound like something you want to see? It apparently sounded like something Mark Strong wanted to be a part of.

Which when you think about the class this thespian represents (if you know him), will shock you very much. The lengths he goes through and the puns he doesn't pull out from (other things are being pulled out of and from, but that's a different story) ... it's almost remarkable. There are so many "what the ..." moments, that I'm not sure what to call this. Shocking? Definitely. Irritating? You bet. Funny? Well that depends on your taste ... in humor that is amongst other things. But if you feel like this is a low blow (it is) and not worth you time, just stop watching it ...

Great Parody, Gross Humour, overall a really funny movie

[traviscornell · 7/10 · 29 May 2016]

I laughed a lot at this movie, and that is the soul criteria I measure a comedy on. Did I laugh? Yes! This movie had a lot of funny scenes (especially if you understand the English).

It's not his finest work, but it's a very good comedy overall. Good take on the working English class, Football Hooligans, Spy Movies.

To the people trashing this movie, clearly they are offended by the very offside humour in this picture. I thought they where too much truthfully at times (Elephant Scene), but overall it didn't ruin the many other funny moments in this movie.

Definitely worth a watch, lots of fun.

A spy satire with game-style story

[Mysterygeneration · 6/10 · 22 February 2023]

The human-based comedy is mostly kept relatively weak in "The Brothers Grimsby," a sleazy but labored spy satire. With its unsettling blend of jocular genre satire, excessive gross-out content, and casually gory, video-game-style combat, the story of two estranged siblings coming together to confront a worldwide terrorism syndicate earns some stray yucks. The laughs per minute are noticeably lower than they were in "Spy," which was a kinder "Spy" from the previous year. It remains to be seen how many HIV-AIDS jokes auds will be ready to laugh at in an otherwise sparsely filled 82 minutes, however certain relevant punchlines may grant these brothers some ephemeral pop-cultural recognition.

I laughed like an absolute hoss

[heddpiper · 7/10 · 29 October 2021]

This film is unbelievably stupid, crass, vulgar and contains surpringly misjudged recurring jokes which feel like they're from 20 years ago... But...I haven't laughed so hard in ages. The laugh out loud gags and set pieces come thick and fast. Utter side splitting rubbish.

Sorry, but a miss .... 3/10

[bruce-129 · 11 March 2016]

When I first heard about Sascha Baron Cohen it was the movie Borat which seemed stupid to me and just ugly.

Then at some point the movie came on one of the free streaming services and I watched it. I almost died laughing. This was years later, about the time that "The Dictator" was released, so I went out to see it and also thought it was one of the funniest things I had ever seen.

The thing about these two movies is that they were funny, and they had a point, and in a weird way kind of a human aspect to them which is what put them over the top.

"The Brothers Grimsby" is just a series of off-color gags and slap- stick skits. To be fair, some of them are very funny, some seem to go over the top. It is just that what is missing is a real story.

I think they tried to replace the story by packing the movie full of dense and non-stop action ... but at least for me it did not work.

I just got back from seeing it, and I wish I had not gone and spent the money. I watched the whole movie, and did some some enjoyment from it, so I wouldn't give it a 0, 1 or 2 ... so what I left with is a 3 and that seems fair.

If you think you want to see this, wait on it for NetFlix or something, it's really not worth it, though there are some funny lines and gags the movie as a whole does not really work.

Ridiculous, self-indulging and incoherent

[colinlomasox · 2/10 · 7 March 2016]

There was always one at school; the boy who craved attention. Invariably quite amusing at first with his silly frolics, daft faces and good-taste challenging larks. He was popular, valued, admired, almost revered; the classic class clown. As the years passed the laughter would dry up, his audience distancing themselves from him so his antics would become more desperate and anarchic. Suddenly one day he would recognise that no-one was finding him funny anymore, instead of his expectant veneration all he would receive were occasional sympathetic glances of sadness and embarrassment. Not that this would stop him, there's always another intemperate level of desperation for those willing to find it. In the school of comedy, Sacha Baron Cohen is in his last throes of hopelessness to entertain his sixth form audience with self-gratifying uber- grossness, only to find they have stopped caring and have virtually forgotten who he is.

Grimsby follows two orphaned brothers who were separated at a young age; Sebastian (Strong) went off to reside with a middle class family in London and now works as an assassin for a secret anti- terrorism cell of MI6. Elder sibling Nobby (Baron Cohen) stayed in Grimsby to a life in the council estates; drinking, taking soft drugs, fathering an inordinate amount of children and obsessing over the England football team. They meet up due to information granted to Nobby regarding Sebastian's whereabouts from a friend in the local boozer which is absurdly unexplained, Sebastian is wrongly accused of killing the head of the World Health Organisation due to Nobby's badly timed intervention and the two brothers set out to clear his name.

What follows is a menagerie of vulgar events which feel like a selection of tasteless sketches cobbled together without any thought to coherence. Grimsby is constantly bogged down with its writer's obsession to shock whether it fits the storyline or not and quickly becomes boring and inconsequential. Gross can be funny, anything can be funny given the right script and correct context. Unfortunately for Cohen, the inverse is true; gross can be unfunny, anything can be unfunny given a terrible script and disjointed context.

Possibly the most frustrating element of Grimsby are the very occasional moments of brilliant comedy; one-liners delivered with such Coogan-esque perfection that it makes the rest of the movie all the more maddening given they are so infrequent. There are also instances of attempted family tenderness but it is impossible to tell whether they are intended to be ironic or affectionate so constantly fall flat.

The most baffling thing about Grimsby is how many big names it seemed to attract. Penelope Cruz and Daniel Radcliffe's respective agents need to take a long look in the mirror and Ricky Tomlinson, Johnny Vegas and Ian McShane presumably had some down time between proper projects. Only Rebel Wilson feels like the kind of actress who would take anything that ends with a pay cheque.

At 83 minutes, Grimsby is about 80 minutes too long. It's ridiculous, self-indulging, incoherent and for all its attempted shock factor, boring.

Not laughed so much at the cinema since the parole officer

[paul-2369 · 9/10 · 25 February 2016]

Went to watch Grimsby last night on a whim and ended up having a great time. Not everyone's cup of tea I'm sure, but surely anyone going to see this new Sacha Baron Cohen film knows exactly what they are going to get.

To be honest I was amazed how good the action scenes where played out, they could rival any serious action movie, however I was there for the comedy and that's what I got, I don't want to spoil this movie but I can't remember the last time I cried with laughter or cringed at the same time I was laughing, everyone in the cinema was in hysterics at some of the parts, an overly long scene featuring Elephants (I'll say no more) made my face and stomach hurt i was laughing that hard.

Rebel Wilson was great I love her in everything I watch her in, her Aussie accent did come out a few times which I forgive her for, but the line she delivered "am not pregnant am just fu*kin fat" was as Northern as they come.

Go see this movie, you'll laugh, you'll cringe, you'll feel ashamed of yourself for laughing at some parts but you'll be entertained, I promise.

I do think Sacha Baron Cohen needs to go see a doctor, maybe a psychiatrist as no one should be thinking up stuff like this, it's wrong.

As for people getting upset about the movie making fun of Grimsby, come on it's a joke, I haven't been their but I'm intelligent enough to know its completely exaggerated for comic effect, I'm from the North, Lancashire, actually and the funniest thing is how many people I meet in London through work who think I come from a similar place...

Not his greatest achievement, but still funny.

[chirox · 7/10 · 26 May 2016]

Sacha Baron Cohen is a great character actor but doesn't quite pull off the full on Northerner, his accent drops at times, but for me that added more fun to the picture. Without spoiling the story, Nobby and Sebastian (guess which one Baron Cohen plays) are inseparable young brothers who get separated, one going to live in the middle class security of a London family and the elder being left behind in run down Grimsby 'you probably don't recognise it since it was gentrified'. The years roll on and the brothers are reunited in a great setup with some funny consequences. Mark Strong hams it up nicely as the super spy younger brother who's reluctance to even admit that he could be related to Baron Cohen's character has a some good moments of awkwardness. From the outset there are laughs aplenty but nothing that will stick like other characters that Baron Cohen has bought to life, however you do start to feel for his character as the movie progresses, to an albeit foreseeable ending. The Brothers Grimsby kept me watching to the end, Peter Baynham's comedy writing skills are not in question here, it's just that overall it left very little of an impression and is not a movie you will be still laughing about in 5 years time.

Little setup, no payoff.

[donuts_69 · 3/10 · 26 February 2016]

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.

The man knows funny

[jtindahouse · 9/10 · 5 April 2016]

I'm a big Sacha Baron Cohen fan. I particularly love him in his documentary-style movies where he uses real people in each scenes and plays his character around them. He's now proved with both 'The Dictator' and 'Grimsby' that he can write very well in the standard comedy style as well. The thing I like most about his films is that nothing is off limits. Any thing can be said, any event can happen and no one is safe from his ridicule. There is one scene in 'Grimsby' that is particularly offensive and shocking to watch. I had seen a clip on Jimmy Kimmel's show where the audience were seen reacting to this scene (a very clever marketing ploy) and now I can fully understand their disgust and discomfort at what they were watching. He pushed it to the limit with that one.

There's more here than just shock value though. The dialogue is constantly clever and witty whilst always adhering to Cohen's unique style. Sometimes it's almost like he struggles with the pacing of his comedy because the audience isn't even finished laughing at one joke and another hilarious one is being thrown out there. The thing that made this better than 'The Dictator' for me though was the story. The action was genuinely entertaining and interesting. Combine excellent action and hilarious comedy and the already short runtime absolutely flies by.

So bad but so funny

[mbplastering-75895 · 7/10 · 20 January 2020]

The headline says it all really. I put it on out of boredom not expecting much. Nothing could have prepared me for the madness that followed. It started to make me laugh straight away and I never stopped until the end credits and then I laughed some more.

The film itself is puerile and nonsensical but it's about two brothers that are a secret agent and an unemployed waste of space respectively so you have to suspend your disbelief and just go with it.

Extremely funny

[oyvindthorhallsson · 4/10 · 10 June 2021]

A couple of very graffic scenes, but executed with brilliant humor!!! Great storyline and amazing work from both sacha and stanley!

Taking grossness to new depths

[Gordon-11 · 6 July 2016]

This film tells the story of a secret agent who is reunited with his long lost brother during an important mission under comical circumstances, and a series of unfortunate events ensue.

The film doesn't look like it well be intellectually stimulating, but even with mental preparation, I could not believe how gross and how low it gets. Yes there are at times comical scenes, but most are eye rolling scenes that annoy rather than entertain. The gross scene in the warehouse is already very graphic, but a subsequent involving elephants takes grossness to new heights that is never before seen. "Borat" was super fun, then the fashion model film wasn't so good but this is bad, Mr Baron Cohen, why would you take yourself to such a low nadir?

If you are looking for pure brain off entertainment and grossness is your thing, then watch it. Otherwise I would stay away from it.