Loved in Europe, not in the USA

Rating: 10/10 (27 October 1998)

I live in both the USA and Europe. Most Americans have not heard of this movie, and some that have heard of it don't care for it.
On the other hand, all my European friends know the tune and most of the words for "Always Look on the Bright Side of Life", the movie's cheerful music-to-be-crucified-by.
The movie is kind of the funny side of "I, Claudius", taking direct aim at that Messiah-mania that obsessed the world in the first century. Brian himself is a reluctant Messiah, but people get pretty confused when he is born one manger down from Jesus.
My favorite scene is when people listen to the sermon on the mount and most are too far away to hear clearly, so they keep arguing about just what Jesus actually said. "Did he say, blessed are the cheesemakers?"."Well, he must have been speaking metaphorically, to include the producers of other dairy products as well"
If you can handle some very irreverent jokes about Christianity and Judaism, you'll love this flick from the Monty Python troupe.