Trailing Off: "The Brothers Grimsby" (2016)

Sacha Baron Cohen

Welcome to the weekly column Trailing Off in which I take a look at a trailer from the past week and analyze its potential. This will be done using an obnoxious amount of analyzing and personal thoughts on the cast and crew as well as expectations. Coming every Sunday (it's called Trailing Off for a reason), I will attempt to highlight films ranging from new blockbusters to lesser known indies and give them their due. Partially to spread awareness, I do believe that there is an art to the sell and will do my best to highlight why these trailers matter or don't with approval (trove) or disapproval (trash). So please stop by, recommend some trailers, and I will see you next time.

Trailer in Discussion

Directed By: Louis Leterrier

Written By: Sacha Baron Cohen & Phil Johnston (Screenplay), Peter Baynham (Screenplay)

Starring: Isla Fisher, Annabelle Wallis, Penelope Cruz

- Preamble -

There's something that I feel has become dirty to say in the past few years: I like Sacha Baron Cohen. I personally think that his renegade style of comedy was genius. I loved that he committed to characters and turns them into a comical art the likes of which are rarely achieved. True, he isn't as great when thrown into a fictional, scripted landscape - as evident in The Dictator. However, I still think that there's a smart, subversive subtext to his entire career that is often impressive. He's often political, choosing to espouse his ideals through juvenile humor. It doesn't always work, but it makes for something very surreal - immediately both postmodern and dated. True, most think that he never achieved anything on par with Borat, but I do think that he has a lot to offer still, even if he'll take a lot of work to break that mold.

The one thing that I find interesting is that it's been a very long time since most of us have last heard from him. Whether the departure was more to let the overwhelming disinterest fade or just because he wanted time off is a mystery. However, I am curious to see whatever it is that he does next. After all, I do think that he's more charismatic than his comedy lets on. If you see his work in Sweeney Todd or Les Miserables, you'll begin to understand why that is. He's theatrical in the traditional sense. He just got pegged with a role that rubs people the wrong way, obviously because that's what the role was made for.

I'll admit that there's a lot of apprehension on my part going into this. While I think that Cohen has a lot to offer, I think less so of Louis Leterrier. He was last seen doing Now You See Me, which wasn't the greatest of movies. In fact, there were a lot of problems that made it a baffling magic heist film. I didn't particularly enjoy it that much. However, I am willing to give him the benefit of the doubt if he can make a good movie following that. I just don't know that there's a lot that's promising, beyond of course working on the script. Even then, he's one of three names. For all I know, he's not really in control of the project.

So, I will grin and bear it. I don't really know what to expect from this trailer. For starters, the only thing I knew going into it is that this was delayed almost a whole year. That's usually not a great thing. Rarely, it does pan out. I'm looking at Foxcatcher, which was delayed and went on to get recognition at Cannes. It even earned a few notable Oscar nominations. But of course, the chances of that happening here are slim. For all I know, I'm headed into a black hole of a film. Fingers crossed that it isn't that bad.

- Dissection -

One of the things that I must be up front about is that action films are a hard sell for me. I cannot get into something just because it has massive explosions or impressive footwork. What I want is a film with compelling imagery and something to offer. While I like that it has an interesting, mysterious attitude in the first half, I do think that the reveal is a little much. I don't exactly know what the trailer was trying to offer. While the action scene was all right, I can totally understand those that have issue with how the trailer ends. The first is a typical action film. The last half seems like a strange deceit.
I am fine if Cohen wants to do raunchy comedy. In fact, the gimmick kind of works in a dumb way. I just don't think that it works in terms of execution. We see that action sequence, and we know what to expect. It's fun and fast paced. It gets you in the mood. Then, it cuts to his "brother," which involves a sex scene in a mattress store. I'm not saying that either halves are bad, but whoever thought that this was the way to introduce the film right off the bat should be reprimanded. All it really says is that these two people are in the film and thus, it's about two radically different things. They aren't even handled with the best of tonality. 
So, what is really left of this trailer when all is said and done? We're getting plenty of action from Mark Strong. We're getting something that promises to have someone competent at their job. But, without context, here's this other guy who's in the film and gets top billing? I am very annoyed by this trailer, just because neither parts ever feel like they're connected. Either this is indicative of a bad film, or just that the people who cut trailers aren't great at their jobs. Give me some scene between Cohen and Mark Strong before you throw me from action to comedy in such a jarring manner. Shame on you, whoever edited together this trailer. You suck at your job.

- One Sentence Sell -

It's a film with plenty of cool action sequences, but it also has sex if that's your thing.

- Trove or Trash -

TRASH

This could be a good film. I don't know. This trailer is lousy with providing any clear context, or even that all of this happens within the same film. It's kind of the lowest of the low in selling a film not because the content is bad, but because the approach to presenting the information is atrocious.