Monty Python’s Life of Brian

I go back and forth on being a Monty Python fan, to be honest. I loved Monty Python and the Holy Grail and I love most of what I’ve seen of the Flying Circus. I even used to own a few of the comedy cassette tapes back in the day and used to sing along to the Lumberjack Song and others. Still, when the time came to rewatch Monty Python’s Life of Brian, I found myself losing interest and getting bored frequently throughout the film’s runtime.

I’ve been around religion all my life and have studied it, especially Christianity, for a number of years. I’m also not easily offended, nor can I actually recall a time in which I felt offended by a film or TV show in terms of my beliefs or other religious beliefs. Without going way off track, Monty Python’s Life of Brian didn’t offend me and I don’t fault it for trying. I fault it for failing to make me laugh.

The film is a 1979 comedy written and performed by the Monty Python comedy team. It tells the story of Brian Cohen (played by Graham Chapman), a young man born on the same night and the same street as Jesus Christ. The film contains an extensive cast of characters, many of them (including simple bystanders) played by members of the Python crew. Ideally, the film appears funny as I get a chuckle even from reading the synopsis of some of these characters, like Biggus Dickus. Yet in execution, something was lacking.

Graham Chapman, John Cleese, Terry Gilliam, Eric Idle, Terry Jones (who directed this film), and Michael Palin are all extremely talented individuals. I respect and enjoy their work extensively. George Harrison also has a big part to play here. Not only is the Beatle in the film, but he set up Homemade Films to finance it after EMI Films backed out over fear of the subject matter.

The film works as a critique of the “sheep-like” tendencies of some religious followers. It also works as a religious satire that takes a look at some of the facets of organized religion and depicts them as being hypocritical and fanatical, yet Life of Brian never actually chases the rabbit far enough down the hole. It appears to somewhat circle the bowl of offensiveness, but Python’s crew never really takes the plunge and forges the depths of intentions. Perhaps this is because Monty Python’s Life of Brian didn’t age all that well, in my opinion, or perhaps it’s because of the increased sensitivities of the people at the time. I’m not sure, but what I do know is that as a comedy it ranked as ineffectual and resonated for me only as a major letdown. I was bored, quite frankly.

I realize that I am going grossly against hype, here. As I write this, a glance over at Rotten Tomatoes has this ranked at 98%. IMDB.com had this as at 8.2 out of 10 stars. In 2000, Total Film magazine ranked it as the greatest comedy film of all time. In 2004, Total Film ranked Life of Brian as the fifth greatest British film of all time. The accolades continue, of course, but I still can’t get myself to think of this film in such a positive way. There were laughs, sure, but not nearly enough. To me, that’s one of the largest failings a comedy can have.

Trailer: