The first time I watched Life of Brian I hardly laughed at all

Rating: 10/10 (5 May 2005)

The first time I watched Life of Brian I hardly laughed at all. Why? Certainly not because it wasn't funny. The problem was that the most absurd and hilarious moments in the movie are actually painfully real, only exaggerated a little bit. If the messenger hadn't been so funny the message would have really depressed me. Which is why it's such a great movie, I suppose. It's hilarious, and at the same time it's actually about something that matters, and is really depressing at that.
Personally I don't think it's blasphemous in any way. It conveys its message in a way that's probably offensive to some people, but it doesn't mock God or Jesus, it doesn't even lash out against religion as a whole. It merely points out the absurdity of people who are too lazy or too stupid to think for themselves, and desperately cling to anybody willing to lead them. Or even unwilling to lead them. You can almost feel the anger and frustration of the writers in some scenes, as if they want to scream "God/Evolution/Whatever you believe in gave you a mind to think with on your own. USE IT!" to the viewer.
All in all, I'd say this is the best of the Python movies and in general one of the greatest movies of all time.