THE BROTHERS GRIMSBY

There is a scene in THE BROTHERS GRIMSBY that is appalling and yet probably the funniest moment in the movie. Appalling, because I can use the scene as a metaphor to sum up what I thought about the film. And funny, because my potty humor sensibilities (don't judge) got the best of me. At one point in the film our heroes hide from the bad guys inside a female elephants vagina. I almost did a spit take of my Coca-Cola in the theater! And in case you're wondering how far the scene went? Well, it is a Sacha Baron Cohen film, so yeah you've answered your own question. I laughed my butt off but there are just some things once you've watched, cannot be unseen.

There is a reason why I don't review comedies. Comedy is subjective. If someone doesn't think something is funny, you cannot convince them otherwise no matter how hard you try. And when it comes to film and the genre of Comedy, there is no accounting for taste. The humor in Cohen's latest film isn't the reason it sucks, the reason is because a lot of the jokes make the tone of the movie a incoherent mess.

Too many times it felt as if jokes got left on the editing room floor. Meaning things got cut for time or content. Which doesn't make sense because of the elephant scene. So it just goes to show I have no clue what I'm talking about, other than I just didn't like the movie.

MI6 extraordinaire, Sebastian has a syndicate known as Maelstrom in his crosshairs. Nobby, his brother has spent the last 28 years trying to find Sebastian. After hearing about Sebastian's whereabouts , Nobby plans to reunite with his brother. It is during this reunion that Nobby accidentally botches Sebastian's mission. Now a rouge agent, Sebastian must clear his name before MI6 terminates him. Joined by Nobby who desperately wants to reclaim the loving relationship they lost. The two dodge bullets and bad guys all the while trying to work through their issues.

After the red band trailer I was on board for the genre mash up of a Sacha Baron Cohen farce mixed with a spy action thrill ride. Sad to say it did not work. From the opening we get dizzying first-person action sequences ( Ugh), mixed with somber and hilarious moments with Nobby. This sets up the tone of the film nicely and the contrasts are very interesting.

It's only too bad that this happens for a little bit, and quickly the film turns out to be gag after endless gross-out gag. Again, I'm fully aware that something like this was expected, and now I know never to expect Sacha to grow as a comedian.

I laughed out loud more than just a few times but the gags after endless gags really hurt the story in my opinion. So much so that it feels like a lot of the movie is on the editing room floor. The first thought that crossed my mind was that maybe they cut the film down because of time, and in the process lost some jokes and story along the way. I can't name them all but there have been some recent comedies where I thought the unrated/directors cuts were better than the theatrical versions. It's a rare breed but does happen.

So if a Director's Cut of THE BROTHERS GRIMSBY happens to come out on Blu-ray, I may give the film another watch.

I cannot recommend THE BROTHERS GRIMSBY. This one is definitely for hardcore Sacha Baron Cohen fans only, but I say they're better off watching BORAT again.