Nobby (Sacha Baron Cohen) and his younger brother Sebastian (Mark Strong, Kingsman: The Secret Service, The Imitation Game) were separated at a young age after their parents died. Nobby went into foster care, while Sebastian was adopted and as a result, the two brothers ended up living very different lives. Nobby's life has kept him in the small, poor town of Grimsby. In the 28 years since the brothers parted ways, Nobby has married Dawn (Rebel Wilson, Pitch Perfect, Bridesmaids) and had 11 children. He is also an alcoholic soccer hooligan and proud of it.
Meanwhile, Sebastian was recruited into a branch of MI6 and became one of its top agents. While on a mission to stop an assassination attempt at a major benefit called WorldCure, Sebastian is recognized by one of Nobby's friends and tells the older brother where to find the missing sibling. Needless to say, Nobby's low-brow presence causes some feathers to be ruffled at the event, but when he interferes in Sebastian's tasks, everyone assumes that Sebastian was actually trying to assassinate one of the benefits' leaders, Rhonda George (Penelope Cruz, Vanilla Sky, Blow, Zoolander 2) instead of protecting her.
While the pair are being hunted and tracked by MI6, Nobby tries to remind Sebastian of who he was, while Sebastian makes it clear that he feels like he was betrayed by his older brother and wants nothing to do with Grimsby or their dysfunctional family. Their antics will take them all over the world as they try to determine what the goal of the assassination attempt was and what exactly a shadow organization is trying to buy in a South African black market.
If you've seen some of Baron Cohen's other films, then you know you can expect some pretty lewd humor, and while there are definitely a few scenes in The Brothers Grimsby that are on par with those other movies, this film manages to leave even the crudest scenes in the dust. If you've found those other scenes to be on the edge of what you can handle, then I doubt you will make it through this film unscathed.
Interestingly enough, the scene in question does have its own special feature since the filmmakers wanted to make the experience as accurate as possible. This featurette, "The Elephant in the Room," goes into how the scene was filmed, how the fluids were developed, and even how the actors handled being in the environment during filming. It goes into a surprising amount of detail, and while the scene is crude, I can't help but applaud the effort that went into making it the best version of that scene that they could make.
Other special features include a generic Making Of, a Line-O-Rama and bloopers. There is also a smattering of deleted and alternate scenes that added a subplot focusing a lot on how Nobby and his friends are generally seen as worthless scum that don't contribute to society. While interesting, I can see why it was cut as it wasn't really necessary for the overall story of the movie.
The Brothers Grimsby isn't for everyone. Just because this film isn't of the mockumentary style as Baron Cohen's other projects, don't go in expecting a more high-brow style of humor. It is a good mix of action and comedy, both done really well, it is just going to offend more people than it will please if you don't know what you are getting yourself into.
