Sacha Baron Cohen cowrote and stars in this embarrassment, which attempts to straddle multiple genres—gross-out comedy, rousing action-adventure, touching family drama—and fails at all of them. His character, a dim-witted, potbellied English football fanatic with a libidinous wife (Rebel Wilson) and a gaggle of kids, learns that his long-lost brother (Mark Strong) from their decrepit hometown of Grimsby has grown up to become a top MI6 agent. From the second the brothers reunite, their Bond-spoofing spy adventure rivals Freddy Got Fingered in its crassness and revolting behavior. Cohen, brilliant in his craftier and more avant-garde shock-humor roles, is too irritating to make this character likable, much less lovable as the story demands. Director Louis Leterrier (Now You See Me) delivers adequate action sequences, but most of the ribald jokes and sight gags fall flat. With Isla Fisher, Penelope Cruz, Gabourey Sidibe, and Barkhad Abdi.
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