CommentsXp Best movie ever!

Plustown A lot of perfectly good film show their cards early, establish a unique premise and let the audience explore a topic at a leisurely pace, without much in terms of surprise. this film is not one of those films.

Kaelan Mccaffrey Like the great film, it's made with a great deal of visible affection both in front of and behind the camera.

Isbel A terrific literary drama and character piece that shows how the process of creating art can be seen differently by those doing it and those looking at it from the outside.

andrew-hill515 I didn't expect much from this film, but was bored and had nothing better to do. I was pleasantly surprised that it was genuinely funny. Sasha Baron Cohen is doing his usual thing of donning a silly accent and being an over-the-top caricature, but he was nicely balanced by a good script and Mark Strong, plus some side characters who were pretty good. Some of the jokes didn't land, but overall better than I thought.

bentheimpaler I wanted to like this movie more than it actually turned out I did. Not by much, mind you, it scarcely looked like Oscar material to start with. But a couple of the jokes went past the point of humorous implications that made me laugh to the point of crass displays that made me cringe. Despite this, however, I found myself laughing heartily more often than not, particularly at the shock/slapstick gags which proliferate throughout the movie. I wasn't quite laughing to the point of tears, but I did become self conscious of the neighbors on account of how much noise I made on more than one occasion. I was surprised to see some of the celebrity clout cast in this comedy, but not unpleasantly so. Mark Strong shines, in particular, when you think of how many "better" scripts were likely on his radar when he chose to do this. He never seems to be phoning it in, even though this is a movie where he could easily get away with it. Cohen, the master of ethnic ambiguity, is his usual chameleon-goofball, this time as a football hooligan, to hilarious effect. This comes recommended for the not-easily-offended, but it wasn't one you need to see on the big screen.

bowmanblue I recently watched an online survey video on Youtube about the stars who had - in their words - 'lost their shine.' I was surprised to see that Sacha Baron Cohen's name was on there, largely to do with 'The Brothers Grimsby' (or just 'Grimsby' in some cases). I saw the trailer in the cinema and it looked pretty funny (doesn't it always?), but couldn't see that it was destined to bomb.It's sort of a 'buddy-cop' film where a pair of mismatched individuals have to work together in order to solve X, Y or Z. In this case, we have a pair of mismatched spies - one (Baron Cohen) is a slob from Grimsby, while the other is his long lost younger brother who is now a genuine suave, super-spy (Mark Strong). Now, I'm a big fan of the pair of them and was looking forwards to seeing how they interact on the big screen, plus I own pretty much ever Sacha Baron Cohen film to date. However, now I've watched it, I can see why it didn't do him any favours.I'd say that the first third is probably the best section of the film. It is genuinely funny and there were a fair few 'laugh out loud' moments. It centres on the pair of brothers meeting and the set-up for their mission established. And, yes, Baron Cohen and Strong do play off each other well (in fact, I swear there are some shots which had to be cut short due to Mark Strong trying not to laugh at his co-star's antics!). The film feels like an extended episode of 'Shameless' (only with more stylised gunplay) and works best when it's actually set in Grimsby itself (although I do wonder what the real residents of Grimsby will make of the way they're being portrayed on screen!).Unfortunately, the action moves away from the titular town and begins to traverse the globe. This is where things start unravelling. There are still funny moments and many do land, however it's not half as slick as its opening. This wouldn't be too bad if it wasn't for the fact that the film includes between 1-3 (depending on your opinion) moments that are simply too over-the-top. I was happy to suspend my disbelief in order to make the plot/gags work, but sometimes things go too far - as if Baron Cohen is trying too hard to shock in order to get laughs. These bits stick out as annoying and just cringe-worthy in a film which is actually reasonably solid.I enjoyed the film, simply because more parts of it worked that didn't. However, as I mentioned, due to those few scenes which just stick in your mind for all the wrong reasons, I can see how it won't have helped Sacha baron Cohen's star remain sparkling.

Michael Lysaght Sacha Baron Cohen's shtick has always been pushing the envelope and shock humour. He got everyone's attention with Borat. However, his successive attempts to do the same with Bruno and The Dictator showed that the gimmick was quickly wearing out. It could not be made any clearer with this film.So, the story. Nobby (Cohen) and Sebastian (Mark Strong) are estranged brothers having been separated after Sebastian gets adopted by an upper-middle class family, leaving Nobby to be brought up in the rough, working class environment of Grimsby.Twenty-eight years pass, and Sebastian has become a top-ranking MI6 assassin, while Nobby has raised a family with his girlfriend (Rebel Wilson). He's a gormless football hooligan, and a good friend of everyone in his chavvy neighbourhood. Nobby longs to be reunited with his brother, when he gets tipped off that Sebastian is in London trying to prevent an assassination attempt. Penelope Cruz is a humanitarian advocate hosting a philanthropic event in aid of a Middle Eastern boy with AIDS. Sebastian tries to complete his mission, but is distracted by Nobby, who finds him and embraces him, causing him to lose his aim, ruining the mission.Sebastian is then forced to go on the run as MI6 now believe him to be a traitor. Nobby agrees to help him fulfil his mission in clearing his name, and from there, it's really a below-the-belt juvenile spy film, with crude humour throughout.The jokes are fairly predictable, between Nobby's dysfunctional family to some of the grossest scenes Cohen has brought to the screen, and that's saying a lot. Let me put it this way, I'll never look at an elephant the same way again.The 'odd couple' dynamic has been done to death and there's no real surprises in this film. Some of the CGI is utterly atrocious. There's a scene that contains Donald Trump (well, actually, the photoshopped head of Donald Trump, and that's kind of my point) It was the tackiest bit of editing I've ever seen in a studio produced film.Cohen has tired out this shock humour technique in his work, and Grimsby is an uninspired spy comedy that shows us that he is in dire need of a new direction in his career.