Life of Brian
Cast
Graham Chapman as Wise Man #2/Brian/Biggus Dickus
John Cleese as Wise Man #1/Reg/Jewish Official/Centurion/Deadly Dirk/Arthur
Terry Gilliam as Man Even Further Forward/Revolutionary/Jailer/Blood & Thunder Prophet/Geoffrey/Audience Member/Crucifee
Eric Idle as Mr. Cheeky/Stan (Loretta)/Harry the Hagler/Culprit Woman/Warris/Intensely Dull Youth/Jailer's Assistant/Otto/Mr Frisbee III
Terry Jones as Mandy/Colin/Simon the Holy Man/Bob Hoskins/Saintly Passer-by
Directed by
Terry Jones
Rater #2 has description and Review
Rater #1
Has Not Seen Movie
Rater #2
7/10. "The film so funny it was banned in Norway!" Life of Brian has been
penned with that phrase in Sweden, because it was, because Norway
believed it to be blasphemous. In an interview, they said that they
didn't really consider it to be blasphemous, and I don't either. It's
just funny, plain and simple.
Brian is a baby born on the original Christmas. First, the three Wise
Men accidentally go into his house, instead of Jesus'. Fast forward
to the year 33 A.D., where Brian (Graham Chapman) is a regular Jew,
who hates the Romans who take over and lives with his overbearing
mother (Terry Jones). He falls into the hands of the People's Front
of Judea and is fighting against the Romans. Soon he becomes mistaken
for the Messiah. Well, at least it has more of a plot than The
Meaning of Life.
Better than Meaning of Life, not as funny as Holy Grail. During the
first two thirds of the movie, the laughs came steadily. During the
last part of the film, the laughs teetered off a little. And, since
most of the plot is about Brian being mistaken for the Messiah, it
came surprisingly late in the film, maybe around halfway. Of course,
it couldn't be considered a Monty Python film if it didn't have the
trademark animation. The opening credits (which also sported a better
song than Meaning of Life) had kooky animation, as with the
animation/claymation halfway through, where Brian gets "rescued" by a
spaceship.
Being a Latin student myself, I cracked up when Brian was writing
graffiti and was corrected by a soldier about his grammar. I could
actually understand what they were talking about! Something else that
made me laugh out loud was when Brian went to buy something but was
hounded to haggle. There were other funny scenes, and most of the
movie was hit instead of miss�though a couple points didn't strike me
as funny.
During the interview I mentioned earlier, they ended by
singing "Always Look on the Bright Side of Life", and I didn't know
that it came from this movie. It was a humorous ending to the movie.
Of course, all of the Monty Pythoners were in top condition, not
showing any signs of weakness yet. I particularly like John Cleese
and Eric Idle the most, with Idle seeming to come off best. The six
main actors altogether had 40 parts! Beat that, Eddie Murphy!
Other "regulars", such as Carol Cleveland and Neil Innes, did well
also.
Not the best, not the worst of the Monty Python movies, but Life of
Brian isn't one to be missed.
Rater #3
Has Not Seen Movie.
Rater #4
Has Not Seen Movie
Rater #5
Has Not Seen Movie
Rated R for nudity, religious themes, and language.
Running time: 94 minutes
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