“I think Sacha Baron Cohen is a comedic genius. These insane characters he creates and the way that he commits to the roles is beyond anything anyone else is doing today. So then why don’t I usually find his movies to be funny?
No really, all the pieces are there, but every one of his movies has fallen flat for me. And Brothers Grimsby was no exception. Maybe his characters are too over the top. Maybe his writing relies too much on shock value. Maybe it’s too insensitive and offensive. I don’t know. But following a similar formula, we once again have a crazy un-realistic character that creates humor from being put in compromising situations. I love the creativity that goes into it and I do generally like offensive humor, but it just didn’t hit home for me.
This time, he’s a sort of white trash soccer (sorry, football) enthusiast who has been searching most his life for his long lost brother. He finally discovers said brother to find that he’s an international James Bond-esque superspy. Hilarity ensues, or at least tries to.
There’s some notable people in the supporting cast. I thought it was kinda cool to see Cohen’s real life wife Isla Fisher join her man on screen, even if the two didn’t share much screentime. Rebel Wilson fit right in, and kinda cool to see Gabourey Sidibe. However, what Academy Award winner Penelope Cruz was thinking, especially coming in on the heels of equally bad Zoolander 2, I have no idea. Girl’s gotta start making some better life choices.
The single best thing to come out of the film, however, was the time Jimmy Kimmel didn’t show a clip of the movie (too graphic for network tv). Instead, he showed it to the audience and filmed their reaction. Absolutely one of the most brilliant marketing strategies I’ve ever seen, and it _really_ got me wanting to watch the movie to see what they were reacting to. Having watched it now, some things are just better left unseen. That goes for the clip in question and the film as a whole.
The Brothers Grimsby – \m/ \m/”