The ever lovable duo of Steve Coogan and Rob Brydon hit the road again for more food, more putdowns and a healthy dose of love for Al Pacino in The Trip to Italy.

Four collaborations in and the easy chemistry between Coogan and Brydon is still very healthy. Although other frequent collaborator Michael Winterbottom returns to write and direct this latest  comedy (which just like its predecessor The Trip has been edited down from its original mini-series to feature length film), so natural is the back and forth between the pair that is hard to pinpoint where the improve starts and the script ends.

Where The Trip featured a feast of British culinary delights, this time it is Italian cooking in all of its hearty, picturesque glory that plays support to the Coogan and Brydon show. Much like the first film the same beats are hit, yet an interesting role reversal (of sorts) develops, as Coogan the egotistical womaniser is much more at ease with this advancing age and relationship with his estranged family, while Brydon the celebrity impersonating family man is intent in letting his “hair down” and seek an Italian love affair.

As a result it is Brydon who becomes the more memorable of the this two headed monster, with his actions a little more bolder, his ego a notch higher, and his never ending cascade of impersonations – from Anthony Hopkins to Hugh Grant to Al Pacino – funny to the point of painful, like tickling that one spot until wails of laughter turn into cries of protest.

Only fitting then that Italy is the place for Brydon to truly shine, with his obsessions on Al Pacino and The Godfather movies truly taking centre stage. One funny scene features Brydon audition for a Michael Mann crime movie in full Pacino mode, such are the limitations of his acting talent that he must do it in the guise of a man who himself starred in two of Mann’s finest Heat and The Insider.

Pacino has long been a favourite for comics to impersonate, yet in Brydon’s hands there is an affection that is damn near infectious. Hopefully somewhere the Scarface actor has the film and is smiling.

Of course being a Coogan and Brydon film the improvisations don’t stop there, with endless riffing between the two on every subject under the Mediterranean sun overflowing with expert voice theatrics of the biggest actors, often concluding in duelling impressions. An excellent piss-take on the questionable accents in The Dark Knight Rises is gut busting good, not least for the return to their Michael Caine show which sent the whole world into howls of laughter the first time round.

The love of movies and movie stars play just as big a role as food in The Trip to Italy. Brydon of course has his Godfather’s, Coogan waxes fondly about Fellini’s La Dolce Vita (with the always hounded celeb reminding us that it’s the film where the term “paparazzi” was created), and then there is Coogan’s personal assistant Emme (Claire Keelan) who continuously references Roman Holiday, the ultimate Italian fantasy film for women as The Godfather is to men.

Yet amongst all the laughs and food and impressions is a healthy dose of self-depreciation. As found in the best performances of actors playing themselves, it is the flaws portrayed that stick with us the longest.

Again Brydon stands out. Whether it be self-flagellation for real life transgressions (only guessing, not claiming) or simply poking holes in his on screen personality, Brydon surprises in the best way possible and proves to be the x-factor that makes this Trip to Italy that bit different and more interesting than the first.