"Can you get me your supervisor please, or maybe a human being if you've got one back there?" Well, that was unexpected. Not only is The Trip good, it's damn good. Ok, so it's yet ANOTHER story where AIDS rears its ugly head to claim the life of an undeserving gay guy, but at least the story here is told with
a fair amount of conviction and good intentions. Spanning over a decade, The Trip cleverly uses archive footage from newsreels as well as music and fashions of the period. It's not exactly massively ambitious but looks like it was made for a good deal more money than was actually thrown at it, and the two lead performances are winning. Larry Sullivan is all goofy Jake Gyllenhall-esque with the odd temper tantrum, and is a pretty hot mess, despite some awful haircuts. Steve Braun has less range but makes the most of a slightly underwritten role, and has this Brad Pitt/Nick Stahl mix in him that works well. Both actors also age quite convincingly, which is always a hard trick to pull off. Also impressive is the photography - The Trip is beautifully lit. A couple of the scenes drag and are overplayed (one in which Alan's mum and kooky friend come to pay him a visit is especially cringy), but mostly the balance between drama and comedy is successful, and the final minutes are genuinely touching.
April 28, 2009
Top Critic
