Simply Perfect

Memorable, crazy movie

Entertaining from beginning to end, it maintains the spirit of the franchise while establishing it's own seal with a fun cast

This is a coming of age storyline that you've seen in one form or another for decades. It takes a truly unique voice to make yet another one worth watching.

I'll be brief. Amazing. Superb. I sort of found it by chance, 13 years after its release and i love every character. That couple is just the best and more realistic (albeit too funny to be totally real) I've ever seen (even off- screens). If you are trying to decide between watching this or going to see your dying grandmother, definitely go see her first but then come home and watch this movie. It will make you feel much better :) A final word. It is for me absolutely shocking that such a talent has not been properly rewarded. I was amazed by the lighthearted brilliancy of the performances. And i was dazzled by the wit of the writing.They deserved awards. A lot of them.

OK, I'm most likely in the minority here, but i was not a fan of this movie. I liked parts of it, I liked the whole gay activism theme of the movie, i very much enjoyed that, along with the occasional view of real life footage, and i thought the acting was quite good. However, i didn't think it was a good movie. I think the only time it got to be a good movie was the final 20 minutes, when they were on the road trip. If the entire movie had been like that, two exes on a road trip reuniting, i might have enjoyed it a bit more, but i just didn't enjoy it for some reason. I don't think i can really put my finger on why i didn't like it, i just didn't. It seemed a little too predictable i guess, a couple of things weren't explained very well, and i guess i would have liked to have seen a bit more of Alan (or Andy, i'm not very good with names) and his coming out process. It just seemed like 'yep, i'm now gay!'. I would have liked to have seen it explored a bit more, his mindset while he was writing the book. Anyway, that's just my opinion. An OK movie, just not one i'd watch again

Although earnest and well meaning, "The Trip" eventually falls victim to a series of preposterous plot turns and derivative rip-offs of other movies. Set in the 1970's and early 1980's, a romance develops between gay activist Tommy and closeted Republican writer Alan. Opposites do attract, and the appealing leads, which are played by Larry Sullivan and Steve Braun, have chemistry and try hard to make the absurd seem convincing. When Alan's book, which is critical of gay rights, is published without his consent, the work undercuts Tommy's political activism. However, the two men, who have been together several years at this point, never discuss the matter or work toward a solution. Evidently, their relationship takes a back seat to everything else, which, in this film, includes even the proverbial kitchen sink. Without revealing too much of the convoluted plot, a "Thelma and Louise" spree unexpectedly develops in Mexico, Alan's mother breaks in on a dinner party and takes to looting the silverware, and an airline ticket clerk turns into a Medusa when Tommy coughs during check-in. Do not even ask how these segments fit together.Director-writer Miles Swain had too many ideas swirling around simultaneously. Instead of focusing on the evolving relationship between Tommy and Alan, Swain wanders all over the gay landscape. Fortunately, he does find some amusing characters, especially a spacey Valley Girl, wonderfully played by Sirena Irwin; her initial encounter with Tommy is one of the film's best scenes. Jill St. John also has a great time as Alan's free-spirited mother, and she enlivens every scene she steals. Unfortunately, Alexis Arquette fills the requisite dizzy-queen stereotype, and his over-the-top performance eventually grates.Swain evidently never decided if "The Trip" was to be a comedy, a romance, or a political discourse, because the film rambles into each genre without developing any focus. While the movie is generally entertaining, especially for undemanding fans of PG-rated gay-romances, Swain's work is less than the sum of its parts. Although actresses St. John and Irwin walk off with the honors in a boy-boy romance, Sullivan and Braun hold their own when on their own. If viewers can suspend disbelief for 90 minutes, they may be modestly entertained. However, whatever their feelings about the film, everyone will keep "The Trip" near the TV just to replay the priceless scene when Anita Bryant received a pie in the face.

I have just seen the DVD of The Trip and am, frankly, aghast at all the positive reviews this movie has had. I can't deny that it has its moments, but it is, overall, awful. First, let me say it is not the fault of all the crew. The acting is not bad at all; both leads do the best that they can with cardboard-paper roles, and indeed, they actually make the movie 'watchable'. The fact that they managed to make stereotypical, ridiculous characters lovable (and they are) is quite amazing. Indeed, the fact that they could cope with such a lousy work from the hair department (one of the leads spends the first 20 minutes of the film with the worst wig I've ever seen on film) and still be believable is worth of praise. The support actors are a little over the top at times, but bearable. But the movie, overall, collapses despite these efforts. The director had no idea if he wanted a comedy or a tragedy, so he basically settled for a comedy-tragedy, which is not the same as a tragicomedy. The tone is all over the place; at one second you are witnessing gags, the next you're witnessing a serious tour de force through gay politics with documentary footage, and then you're in the midst of unexplained tragedy, with bits and pieces of romantic comedy here and there (the only parts of the movie that work). Most of the plot is outright ABSURD... the plot is driven by the fact that a guy in a four year relationship cannot manage to apologise, or even have a conversation, with his lover, for an honest mistake. It feels completely forced, ridiculous and out of character (the guy basically spends the rest of the movie apologising for everything else... that's pretty much his drive). The sudden infatuation and near-obsession of the "evil character" is just as absurd and unexplained. So is the deux ex-machina intervention of an ex girlfriend with whom the character didn't have much contact overall... basically, if the writer needed things moving in a certain direction, he would just do it with the first solution that came to mind. Finally, the death that seals the story just comes pretty much out of nowhere, tonally speaking... the writer wanted melodrama so he had to kill someone (who besides coughing a bit didn't really seem at near-death sickness, may I say). As a gay man myself, I am all for good gay stories getting out there. And one can stand a few flaws here and there in a first feature. But when the characters are being driven like puppets just to get some idea or image across, the whole thing just falls to pieces like a house of cards. And that's what happens here. So if you like sappy stories, watch it anyway (it has its sweet moments that account for the time lost). But if you're looking for cinema, let this one pass.