Life of Brian - The bright side of that almost forgotten specific humour

Rating: 8/10 (21 August 2007)

I bought "Montys Enzyklo Pythonia" -DVD package a while back. It contains all the three movies and unfortunately one of those movies I had not seen before - "Life of Brian" is a great comedy. It wasn't as good as I expected, but it sure was great. I have to admit that I still like "Holy Grail" the most from the Monty Python movies. I didn't like "The Meaning of Life" so much and I think it's the worst one of the three movies, though it isn't that bad after all. The story tells about.. Well, about the life of Brian, who is born in the exact same date as Jesus himself. After a few ten years Brian, a Jew in Roman-occupied Judea, is mistaken for a messiah which throws him into a plot he wouldn't want to be part of.
The story itself is surprisingly good and the storyline follows the movie really well, so it stays in the package throughout unlike "Holy Grail" which is just messing around with intelligent silliness and "The Meaning of Life" which doesn't even have a real plot. So, story-wise this movie is the best one of the three candidates, having a story which is also surprisingly entertaining and interesting. It isn't anything that serious though, as there still is that same Monty Python humour that no-one else than the Monty Python boys could come up with, and it is indeed hysterical. The movie is non-stop joking throughout and it doesn't really get boring in any part, which is especially good when it comes to comedies like these. The jokes are funny, some of them being not that funny and some of them being absolutely hilarious. I still didn't laugh as much as in "Holy Grail" though, so you shouldn't be expecting a comedy in the same level.
Again, Graham Chapman, John Cleese, Terry Gilliam, Eric Idle, Terry Jones and Michael Palin play various characters, which all of them have their different personalities; Hilarious, yet sometimes being familiarly sickening - The kind of personalities we know the Monty Python boys of. Once again, my personal favourites are John Cleese, Eric Idle and Michael Palin, who have always been the best actors Monty Python has offered, or at least for me. The other three, Graham Chapman who is pure excellence as the main character Brian Cohen, Terry Gilliam and Terry Jones also perform their roles flawlessly and of course with guaranteed Python style, which really can not be compared to any other comedy styles.
What I like about "Life of Brian" is the whole set-up of it; The milieu is Judea, but the Judean people themselves are all actually English, which is merely hilarious as its own - The whole story and the jokes are just a plus to that. As a fan of British humour, especially the accent, I find some of the jokes hysterical just because of the accent of the language; The use of words, different emphasis's and the whole body language which is also so significant for the entire purposes of the jokes. It's just so brilliant and the humour this movie has to offer has also surprisingly much intelligence inside it, though it is silly and it swings on the edges of stupidity.
I found "Life of Brian" entertaining throughout and I'm glad to say I have finally seen it. It's a must-see for every Python -fan there is and it's a must-see for every comedy-fan there is. Monty Python's humour is not for everyone and as far as I know it that specific humour has divided people to two different groups; Those who like it and those who don't, it just depends on the person you are. If you haven't liked the series I would still recommend seeing this film, as it's actually a bit different than the series, naturally, as it still is a full length motion picture after all. As I watched "The Meaning of Life" in slight disappointment before I saw "Life of Brian" I found this surprisingly refreshing - One thing I can also be glad of is that this isn't a disappointment. It's a sure recommendation for all those who want to have a laugh and a great time when watching a movie. No matter how much you'd hate it, you can Always Look on the Bright Side of Life - Even perhaps the Life of Brian.