A Fistful of Reviews - Monty Python and the Holy Grail (1975)

Rated: PG
Runtime: 1 Hour and 29 Minutes

Reviewer: Dale
Grade: B+

Much has been made of Monty Python over the years. Yes, they are funny. Yes, they are inspired. Yet I can't help but think that, perhaps, TOO much has been made of them over the years.

That being said, however, I regard them as one of the funniest comedy troupes ever to come down the pike. Their mixture of the silly and the sophisticated, the sublime and the absurd, the irrational and the irritating, is an ingenious combination. I see its origins in the early movies of The Beatles as well as the work of the Marx Brothers. Yet the Monty Python boys took what came before them and managed to put their own insane stamp on it. They created a form of comedy that you either love to death or you just don't get. It defies explanation, really. You can't quite pinpoint why, exactly, a Monty Python sketch is funny. It just...IS funny. That's all you can say about it. I don't know why I laugh when I see a cow being launched in a catapult. I don't know why I laugh at a man harping on and on about the legislative system of his country and protesting being called an old woman. There are some who would sit through such things and have no reaction whatsoever. I am not one of those people.

"Monty Python and the Holy Grail", which is supposed to be the funniest of all the Python films, has many truly inspired and hilarious moments. More than I remembered, in fact. To list them would be pointless, seeing as how they are the reason to watch the film. Yet the film is pretty much pointless aside from them. The plot is threadbare to say the least and the characters are little more than sketches. The jokes? Some of them work. Examples? The afore-mentioned launching of the cow. The encounter with the French. The "temptation" of Sir Galahad. The wedding party and the way that Lancelot interrupts it. And, my personal favorite, an unexpected monster which guards a seemingly important castle.

The ones that don't? Well, I have never seen all the humor in the Knights who say "Ni".
Kinda pointless, really. And the business with the guards who don't know what they are supposed to do in the prince's cell. That's a bit more redundant than inspired. The animation really grinds everything to a halt whenever it appears (which is how I feel about the animation in any Monty Python enterprise). And the movie just, sorta...ends. It doesn't wrap up loose ends, it doesn't prove or solve anything. It feels less like a cohesive ending than the point at which the whole production just ran out of funds. Then again, the whole movie has that kind of feel to it. Some of it works, and some of it doesn't and that is fine. I don't mind that approach to comedy. "Airplane" even had a couple jokes that fell flat. Though, in comparison to this movie, not nearly as many. "Airplane" was ingenious. This one is merely really funny most of the time. And "Airplane" at least had fun mining its jokes for every ounce of humor and milking everything for all that it's worth. It also seemed to know where it was going. It had more momentum than this one.

But all that is just the bitching of a critic. Bottom line: if you like this sort of thing, you will find much to like about "Monty Python and the Holy Grail". Chances are good that you will laugh and laugh often. Yet there are quite a few movies I would put above this one if we are talking Great Comedies of All Time, and if you want to see what makes Monty Python truly special,
I might suggest checking out that infamous Parrot Sketch.

My friends, sketch comedy just doesn't get any better than that.

	Monty Python and the Holy Grail (1975)
	Rated: PG Runtime: 1 Hour and 29 Minutes Reviewer: Dale Grade: B+ Much has been made of Monty Python over the years. Yes, they are funny. Yes, they are inspired. Yet I can't help but think that, perhaps, TOO much has been made of them over the years. That being said, however, I regard them as one of the funniest comedy troupes ever to come down the pike. Their mixture of the silly and the sophisticated, the sublime and the absurd, the irrational and the irritating, is an ingenious combination. I see its origins in the early movies of The Beatles as well as the work of the Marx Brothers. Yet the Monty Python boys took what came before them and managed to put their own insane stamp on it. They created a form of comedy that you either love to death or you just don't get. It defies explanation, really. You can't quite pinpoint why, exactly, a Monty Python sketch is funny. It just...IS funny. That's all you can say about it. I don't know why I laugh when I see a cow being launched in a catapult. I don't know why I laugh at a man harping on and on about the legislative system of his country and protesting being called an old woman. There are some who would sit through such things and have no reaction whatsoever. I am not one of those people. "Monty Python and the Holy Grail", which is supposed to be the funniest of all the Python films, has many truly inspired and hilarious moments. More than I remembered, in fact. To list them would be pointless, seeing as how they are the reason to watch the film. Yet the film is pretty much pointless aside from them. The plot is threadbare to say the least and the characters are little more than sketches. The jokes? Some of them work. Examples? The afore-mentioned launching of the cow. The encounter with the French. The "temptation" of Sir Galahad. The wedding party and the way that Lancelot interrupts it. And, my personal favorite, an unexpected monster which guards a seemingly important castle. The ones that don't? Well, I have never seen all the humor in the Knights who say "Ni". Kinda pointless, really. And the business with the guards who don't know what they are supposed to do in the prince's cell. That's a bit more redundant than inspired. The animation really grinds everything to a halt whenever it appears (which is how I feel about the animation in any Monty Python enterprise). And the movie just, sorta...ends. It doesn't wrap up loose ends, it doesn't prove or solve anything. It feels less like a cohesive ending than the point at which the whole production just ran out of funds. Then again, the whole movie has that kind of feel to it. Some of it works, and some of it doesn't and that is fine. I don't mind that approach to comedy. "Airplane" even had a couple jokes that fell flat. Though, in comparison to this movie, not nearly as many. "Airplane" was ingenious. This one is merely really funny most of the time. And "Airplane" at least had fun mining its jokes for every ounce of humor and milking everything for all that it's worth. It also seemed to know where it was going. It had more momentum than this one. But all that is just the bitching of a critic. Bottom line: if you like this sort of thing, you will find much to like about "Monty Python and the Holy Grail". Chances are good that you will laugh and laugh often. Yet there are quite a few movies I would put above this one if we are talking Great Comedies of All Time, and if you want to see what makes Monty Python truly special, I might suggest checking out that infamous Parrot Sketch. My friends, sketch comedy just doesn't get any better than that.