This, dear friends, is why I go to TIFF. Where else would I get to enjoy the big screen experience of two fantastic brit comics playing out a scene that involves duelling Michael Caine impressions??!!

Five years ago, Michael Winterbottom, Steve Coogan, and Rob Brydon collaborated on the bounty of wry wit that is TRISTAM SHANDY: A COCK AND BULL STORY. Now they have returned on a new project, where Coogan and Brydon once again play versions of themself. This time, the project is THE TRIP; a story in which Coogan has planned a week-long foodie tour of Northern England. When his girlfriend drops out at the last minute – and he can’t think of anyone else to join him – he reaches out to Brydon.

The project is mind-blowingly self aware, since both men refer to actual accomplishments and ambitions. The film then takes these glimmers of truth and holds them up to a funhouse mirror. What we get is a journey where Coogan doesn’t enjoy Brydon’s company so much as he endures it. Coogan is full of self-loathing, one-upmanship, and existentialism. Brydon…he’s full of wholesomeness when he phones his wife every night…and a deep arsenal of impressions the rest of the time.

Together they spend their week enjoying some truly decadent looking food, and spurring a sometimes cordial, sometimes bitter, always funny to-and-fro.

(Which includes the aforementioned, endlessly hilarious, duelling Michael Caines)

Quite simply – THE TRIP is hilarious, which is no small feat when one considers that so much of it involves endless scenes of celebrity impressions. It is wonderfully constructed from endless hours of footage, much of it a true marvel of Coogan and Brydon’s improv abilities. If I have any regrets, it’s that I’ll have to wait to see the longer version which will air in the UK as six 30 minute episodes.

The film is a delight, and if you’re still unsure about seeing it, remind yourself: duelling Michael Caines.

THE TRIP plays TIFF twice more – Monday September 13th at 12pm, and Sunday September 19th at 3pm. In the UK, the series will air on BBC2 later this fall.