Monty Python's Life of Brian
(1979)











Rated: R
Runtime: 1 Hour and 33 Minutes


Reviewer: Dale
Grade: A+

"Monty Python's Life of Brian" is the closest to perfection that any Monty Python movie ever got. For one thing, it is the most consistently hilarious of all their flicks. There is hardly a moment that doesn't elicit a pretty large laugh. There are not five minutes in the whole film that are not capable of provoking laughter from me somehow.

Another reason that it works so marvelously well is that it is completely on target with its satire. Most of the Python films are happy just to be silly and fun. This one is still quite silly and it is a hell of a lot of fun, but it also has a point. It is closer to reality than "Holy Grail" and, therefore, it is more of a clever satire than just a potpourri of bizarre events that trigger our laughter. "Life of Brian", unlike the other Python films, actually has something to say.

"Life of Brian" is, not too surprisingly, the story of a man named Brian. Brian was born just down the block from Jesus Christ on December 25th. The very first scene of the film has the Three Wise Men visiting him in his crib before moving down the street to where the real action is. This is a very funny scene, but it also establishes the rest of the film. For the rest of his life, Brian's close proximity to the Messiah will cause him nothing but problems.

The best bits of the film are when the Judean people (Not the "Judean People's Front" mind you) start to mistake him for the Messiah and follow him. There is a lot of biting humor here.
Not at the expense of Christ, mind you. Christ is only in one scene of this film and he is shown being very Christlike as he gives the sermon on the Mount. No, the humor here is in the people mistaking a common man for the Christ and the problems that such mistakes would bring with them. The satire is not making fun of Christ himself. Rather the movie is poking fun at the ridiculous crap that sometimes goes down in His name. It is making fun of religious pomposity and hypocrisy. It is poking fun at the way people are so desperate for leadership that they will sometimes follow anyone. It is about people getting the wrong idea.

And it is always hilarious, as I stated earlier. The Pythons were in rare form here. Even the jokes that should misfire have a wonderful way of working. My favorite bits? The part where Brian loses a sandal and his followers take it as a sign from God. I also loved the part where Brian's mother starts to chastise his followers ("He's not the Messiah. He's a very naughty boy!") and basically any scene involving the People's Front of Judea. The whole film is just one brilliant joke, sight gag and line of dialogue after another, and worthy to be catalogued amongst the great screen comedies of all time.

Or, as one character would say, "worthy of Jehova".