Directed by:
Louis LeterrierCinematography:
Oliver WoodCast:
Sacha Baron Cohen, Mark Strong, Isla Fisher, Rebel Wilson, Gabourey Sidibe, Penélope Cruz, Barkhad Abdi, Scott Adkins, David Harewood, Tamsin Egerton (more)VOD (3)
Plots(1)
When two inseparable brothers are adopted by two different families, their lives quickly fork off in opposite directions. Sebastian (Mark Strong) works his way up in the British government agency MI6 to become their most revered assassin and Nobby (Sacha Baron Cohen) meets the love of his life (Rebel Wilson), has nine children and spends his days shouting abuse at football fans in Grimsby. After spending 28 years looking for his brother, Nobby finally locates Sebastian in London and travels down to surprise him. Sebastian, however, is on an assignment and Nobby's bombshell revelation startles him causing him to shoot and kill the wrong target. Forced to go on the run, Sebastian and Nobby set off across the capital trying to lose their pursuers while Nobby tries to make amends with his long-lost sibling. (Sony Pictures Home Entertainment)
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Reviews (11)
Some really juicy and delicious jokes (Radcliffe and Trump, "Do you have to shoot at everything?!") side by side with Mr. Cohen's overt sexual deviance and all manner of anal exploitation, which, while it makes you laugh heartily now and then, is life-threatening to eat with the film, watch it after a romantic dinner, and sometimes just watch it – things have been going downhill with Cohen and his originality since Borat, straight towards constantly surpassing the extremes of imaginary comedic (dis)taste, but on the other hand, after the terrible Bruno, Sacha manages to produce a story that holds together and, by engaging A-list actors, proves that the film world simply can’t find a more entertaining and flashy presentation of boorishness and imbecility anywhere else than his. A big thumbs up to Mark Strong, who also knows how to make a proper joke out of himself and obviously enjoyed this unprecedented ass-riding as much as I did for the most part. 65%
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This was a really wild ride! Filled with fecal humor, offbeat action, village boors, disgusting obscenities, allusions to sexual minorities and practices, and in fact sex in general, and featuring scenes that you're unlikely to find in any other movie (the elephant mating and poison vs. testicles, for example), unless Sacha Baron Cohen is starring or writing the script again. Surprisingly, the seemingly mismatched lead pairing of Cohen and Jeremy Strong ended up having some chemistry, and as a result, the two actors complemented each other well. The supporting cast also amused me, in particular about Rebel Wilson ("I'm not pregnant. I'm just fucking fat!") and Gabourey Sidibe. I was also amused by the fake-cameos of Daniel Radcliffe and Donald Trump, as well as the allusions to the characters' resemblance to real persons. In short, a film that isn't quite for everyone, as the level of fecklessness occasionally went sky-high, but nonetheless, I was personally amused (and even disgusted).
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Surprise of the year! Grimsby is as essential and groundbreaking for the comedy genre as I Spit On Your Grave was for exploitation. The biggest comedy hit since Shut Up! Sacha Baron Cohen goes bonkers here and delivers the best comedic and situational humor of his career. There is an incredible amount of allusions to movies, actors and celebrities, and snappy gags at intervals of every five minutes, and scenes that will leave a strange aftertaste in your mouth. The best thing in the the film is the action, which is so good that it surpasses even some action films (it's brisk, brutal, gritty and original, though furiously edited, it has drive). The icing on the cake are Scott Adkins' fight with Borat, the elephant bukkake party and the testicle sucking. I feel like watching it again. Awesome stuff. 100%
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I would be interested in knowing if Penélope Cruz knew when she signed on to this project that she would appear in the same film as Mark Strong’s testicles, Gabourey Sidibe’s crotch and a hectolitre of elephant ejaculate. The film succeeds in presenting all of the above without coming across as a random sequence of gags (though it’s not far from it) and without the punchline (always) consisting in the distastefulness or imbecility of the given joke. With his guileless rejection of what is proper in a civilised society, Cohen’s Nobby, proudly claiming to be English scum, fulfils a purpose similar to that of the earlier Ali G and Borat – he shows the pretence in which all intellectuals, petty bourgeois and snobs live, as they reveal their true face and true intentions when confronted with a man whom they despise too much to take seriously (among other things, this year’s American presidential election showed us what that can lead to). The other characters are (unintentionally) led to being exposed by Nobby, and the viewer is then (intentionally) led by the redneck jokes, which are drawn out to the point of absurdity. Sure, The Brothers Grimsby is very much a hit-or-miss affair, the editing could have been less frantic and the seriously depicted flashbacks (and the whole storyline about the importance of family) disrupt the pace and tone of the narrative, but I still found it funnier and more subversive than most mainstream comedies. The fourth star is for giving Donald Trump AIDS. 70%.
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Sometimes good, but sometimes intentionally brutally disgusting. So disgusting, in fact, that it goes beyond disgust. And I deliberately played this comedy right after Animal with Belmondo to realize what kind of comedies were made back then and what kind of comedies are made today. And I have to admit that I much prefer the kind of comedies they madeback then. Now they only seem to be fighting for their moment in the sun by trying to fit as many disgusting things as possible on an eight-millimeter film.
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