Sacha Baron Cohen lands extreme gross out with Brothers Grimsby

/ March 14, 2016
(From IMDb.com)

(From IMDb.com)

Here’s a list of the obviously warm and fuzzy elements in The Brothers Grimsby, in order of significance:

Love of family. Devotion to friends. Conviction to beliefs. Connection to community.

Here’s a list of the potentially offensive segments of the latest installment in the career of Sacha Baron Cohen: Gratuitous sex. Forced sex act with a sibling. Ordered sex act accidentally carried out with the wrong person. Graphic elephant sex. Repeated. AIDS affliction to celebrities and a potential presidential candidate. Sudden fondness for killing. Deep-seated stupidity. Passing along said silliness to offspring. And I may have missed some, depending upon your sensibilities.

Yes, I laughed a time or two at this ridiculous spy comedy in Baron Cohen clothing amid a dozen or so patrons for a Friday night showing in the mid-sized Regal Cinemas’ theater in Syracuse-area Shoppingtown Mall. Mostly, my mirth was of the oh-no variety as the 82 minutes from the mind of writer Baron Cohen unwind.

Here’s his plot. He’s Nobby, living with his ample spouse and a brood of kids and grandkids in the northern England town of Grimsby. There’s a tribute to his younger brother Sebastian, whom he’s not seen such they were 6 and 7. The orphans, you see … well, Nobby did what an older brother thought he must, and Sebastian went on to become a notable and noted spy, it turns out when he finally locates his whereabouts these two decades later.

What follows is a Nobby’s ineptitude, no matter his love for all things national soccer team and his curvy woman, saucy in something only somewhat more than a cameo by Rebel Wilson. Mark Strong plays Sebastian as a strong-willed dude who starts flashing on their years growing up in Grimsby and starts to melt some. Together they caper to conquer the evil forces fronted by a supposed world-saver played by a constantly inwardly steaming Penelope Cruz.

Laugh if you will as they bumble, stumble and gross out.

What’s your threshold for offensive behavior in movies these days? What’s your limits for stupidity in your movies? If you’re a fan of Sacha Baron Cohen movies, which, and why?

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13 thoughts on “Sacha Baron Cohen lands extreme gross out with Brothers Grimsby”

  2. How could you sit through one of his films? UGH! he is horrible and his films are horrendous. I actually watched one of them and was left with that sick feeling one gets after eating French fries, a sundae and drinking soda all at once. Thanks for suffering through that film so the rest of us didn’t have to. You are a good egg! 🐣

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  6. I dislike all of the Sacha movies. I would be hard pressed to say which I hated the most as I find all of them equally offensive. The list of reasons why is too long to include here. I honestly have tried watching most of the films at one point or another, convinced i must be missing something since others seemed to enjoy them. I never get far into the movie before I am too disgusted by the inhuman and ignorant behavior that deliberately marginalizes and demeans those not like us – including misogynistic behavior, rape, abuse, lack of human compassion, stupidity (beyond acceptable farce), elitism, exclusionism, religious and cultural intolerance, and the list goes on.

    Don’t get me started on the Sacha movies or I might tell you what I really think. Ha! Thanks for the review Mark – I’m sorry you had to waste your time with such drivel and trash. Thank you for sacrificing your valuable time to let us know the latest addition to the Sacha series is as offensive as all the rest.

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