THE BROTHERS GRIMSBY is one of the more difficult reviews I’ve had to write in a long time. On one hand, it’s very easy to point out that this is clearly not a good movie; it’s offensive, juvenile, ridiculous and offers nothing new to the action-comedy genre. On the other hand, I laughed uncontrollably more times than I want to admit and at the end of the day, isn’t that what a comedy is supposed to do? The question is whether or not the humor in the film can make up for all of its other shortcomings.
We pick up with the story of Nobby (Cohen) and Sebastian (Strong), who were put into an orphanage as young kids after their parents died, but got separated when they were adopted. When the film flashbacked to them as kids, it was depressing and sad. I’m not sure we needed so much of the brothers as kids, especially in a slapstick action-comedy, but director Leterrier put it in there. Most of the film follows Nobby as an adult loser who spends his time drinking, watching soccer and searching for his long lost brother. What he doesn’t know is that Sebastian is now a secret agent. Nobby eventually finds out that his brother is going to be attending a fundraising event and so he shows up to surprise him. Sebastian is there to stop an assassination attempt, but after Nobby bungles it, the two brothers must go on the run and try to thwart a devious terrorist plot.
No review of THE BROTHERS GRIMSBY would be complete without special mention to the elephant scene. I had no idea what was going to happen and even after it happened I found myself in shock. In the context of the movie, the scene was shockingly hilarious because it came out of nowhere. But I later learned that Sacha Baron Cohen released the clip to the public and that was a huge mistake. The scene only works within the movie as shock value. On its own, it’s more of a deterrent to watch the entire film than an enticer.
Although an extreme example, the elephant scene is pretty much the type of humor you’re getting with THE BROTHERS GRIMSBY. The entire film relies on juvenile toilet humor that’s often times racist, sexist or just ignorant. But if I let the review off with just that sentence, I’d be a complete hypocrite because I laughed out loud several times throughout the movie. I’m ashamed to admit it, but it’s true and for that, I have to give Cohen and the screenwriters some credit for making the audience laugh despite their best judgement.
THE BROTHERS GRIMSBY feels pretty familiar and follows the action-comedy path that the genre is known for, but tries to be different by shocking the audience with crude humor. Whether or not that works is 100% up to the individual viewer, but I can say I found it surprisingly funny. I’m not going to be clamoring for a sequel and I wouldn’t watch this with my parents, but it has enough funny moments to make it worthwhile.
BLU-RAY REVIEW
Video: THE BROTHERS GRIMSBY looks fantastic on Blu-ray
Audio: The audio was fine.
The Making of The Brothers Grimsby (11:50): The film’s cast and crew show up to talk about the movie. This is very much a fluff piece and just gives a broad overview of the film.
Deleted and Extended Scenes (8:50): Three different deleted scenes in total, none of which make much of a difference.
The Elephant in the room (4:20): The infamous elephant scene gets a quick featurette.
Blooper Reel (2:30): This probably should have been better, especially with some of the stuff they asked these actors to do.
Line o Rama (2:20): Alternate lines, mostly from Cohen.
