Grimsby is a lot like Marmite, absolutely disgusting, but some people love it. But, unlike where you stand on Marmite (which is objectively, foul), the issue is entirely a matter of taste and decency. If, like me, you have neither, then you’ll love it.
It sets the tone from the very first scene, and safe to say, if you don’t appreciate the lead character’s considered consumerism. then there isn’t really going to be anything for you in the rest if the movie. At which point you can either save your time and walk out, or stay and endure an ejaculate of increasingly puerile gross out comedy. And it does get remarkably gross.
The audience with which I saw it were in equal measure amused and horrified. Laughs turning into squeals of discomfort and back into laughs. This is very much a movie that calls for an audience. Watched alone it might elicit some laughs and cringes, but these are amplified exponentially by the group experience. So even if you don’t manage to get around to seeing it at the cinema, get some friends around when it comes out on DVD, especially as it will undoubtedly come with some extra gross out scenes added.
With a running time of 83 minutes, it’s not that much longer than some steaming TV pilot episodes, but that is actually a good thing. At no point does it feel like it’s outstaying its welcome. In a world where the two hour plus comedy is becoming the norm, this is a quick breath of fresh air. Indeed, it feels at times as if it has been somewhat ruthlessly cut to the bone to ensure it doesn’t drag. This might go some way to explaining why appearances by people like Ricky Tomlinson and Johnny Vegas are so fleeting.
However, those who do get some actual screen time do put on a good show. Sacha Baron Cohen is convincing as hapless, family-oriented dole-scum Nobby, whilst Mark Strong gets the tone just right, playing Nobby’s long-lost secret agent brother, Sebastian, perfectly straight. Both fully game for anything, they share a great chemistry and energy. It works so well, that they may be tempted to create a sequel, though it would be challenging to pull off the same trick, successfully, twice. Rebel Wilson also puts in a great turn, as always, as Nobby’s girlfriend, Lindsey.
The women do not get too much to do, although Rebel Wilson, playing Nobby’s girlfriend, Lindsey, steals every scene. Meanwhile, although Penelope Cruz as philanthropist Rhonda George and Isla Fisher as spy operative Jodie Figgie, put in decent performances, they are both mostly hamstrung by their lack of much to do.
As for plot, you’re better off forgetting about it. It only exists to put a series of humorous scenes together. If you think about it for more than a second, the whole thing falls apart. But that’s ok, because the movie is little more than a dedicated joke delivery system. And it does deliver the jokes, for the most part. If gross-out humour is your cup of tea, then you will be rolling in the aisles. If knob jokes aren’t your sort of thing, then this is not the movie for you.
Even though it is a comedy, it actually handles the action scene really well. This shouldn’t really come as a surprise as director Louis Leterrier directed the first two Transporter films. They are quite intricate and the decision to make them entirely POV actually works, in small doses. After just a couple of minutes, that style is enough. It was certainly enough to make me doubt whether I could sit through the upcoming film, Hardcore Henry, which is shot entirely in this style.
Yet for everything it does right, there is a strong sense that this is a movie out of time. Its main character, Nobby, feels like a stereotype straight from the mid-90s, right down to the obligatory England shirt and Liam Gallagher sideburns. It’s not an insurmountable hurdle, but suggests a level of distance from the actual source it is satirising, that adds to the shallow feel of the film.
In the end though, despite an 11th hour speech about the value of underclass scum, it is all about making you laugh and cringe. There is not any deeper social analysis or exposé at work here, just a bunch of nob jokes, but if that’s what you’ve come to see, then you won’t be disappointed.
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