Now that we Americans have concluded our quadrennial brush with moderate interest in soccer, we can go back to ignoring the sport that the rest of the world plays religiously and we just seem to feel secular about. At least, that’s how I would feel, except that Sacha Baron Cohen’s next film, Grimsby, is going to feature soccer front and center, and who doesn’t get excited about a new Sacha Baron Cohen film?
Grimsby features the comedia as a soccer hooligan with a black ops agent brother played by Mark Strong. The unlikely pair must go on the run together, although why or how that will take place has yet to be revealed. In fact, other than the cast list and Baron Cohen’s recent ejection from Wembley Stadium for hooliganism, very little is really known about Grimsby.
Our first glimpse at Baron Cohen’s new look for Grimsby comes courtesy of another great comedian, former Python Eric Idle. Idle recently ran into Baron Cohen on a walk, and posted the following image to Twitter:
So who did I bump into on my walk today but my LA neighbour? He’s here filming. I love coincidence. pic.twitter.com/JHp2lbzptj
— Eric Idle (@EricIdle) July 3, 2014
So Baron Cohen appears to be channeling a very tall Keith Moon for his part in Grimsby. Actually, he looks about right for a hooligan: I swear that I’ve run into several similar looking gents during my sojourn in the United Kingdom.
Granted that Baron Cohen’s films have been slowly slipping in recent years, with Borat being the high point, I am still looking forward to what he’ll do with the combination of hooliganism and action-thriller. The rest of the cast, which includes Ian McShane, Gabourey Sidibe, and Johnny Vegas, means that I’m more likely to see what Baron Cohen and his cohorts have in store.
Grimsby will start a riot on July 31, 2015, so mark your calendars. Maybe America will still care about soccer enough to go see the movie?