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Monty Python's
The Meaning of Life (1983)

DIRECTOR Terry Jones
PRODUCER John Goldstone
SCREENWRITER Graham Chapman
John Cleese
Terry Gilliam
Eric Idle
Terry Jones
Michael Palin
COUNTRY
Storbritannia
GENRE
Komedie
NORWEGIAN TITLE
Monty Pythons meningen med livet
RUNNING TIME
103 minutes


Cast includes:

CHARACTER PERFORMER RATING
Diverse roller: Graham Chapman
John Cleese
Terry Gilliam
Eric Idle
Terry Jones
Michael Palin

 

Review

The Meaning of Life is the final of the Monty Pythoners joint ventures, and arguably also the most tasteless and graphically overdone. It's a narratively incoherent quasi-philosophy on the meaning of life (ostensibly). But the story obviously is never the point, and neither is retaining a logical plot thread through this collection of skits – a plot thread which was the basis for Life of Brian's success, but which unfortunately is absent here. The result is an uneven and at times ill-focused attempt at going over the top. The Python crew have never been as skilled at writing stories as they have been at creating types, and in The Meaning of Life, this is more apparent than ever. There are some unparalleled peaks ("marching up and down a square" and "Mr. Creosote", to name a few), but the totality is missing, both when it comes to contents and humour.

Copyright © 2.9.2004 Fredrik Gunerius Fevang [HAVE YOUR SAY]