1979 comedy
Rating: 15/20
Plot: Brian, born a stable or two over from a more famous guy, lives in Roman-occupied Judea with his mother, and his life is turned upside-down after he's mistaken for a messiah.
There's a message amidst the crude nonsense and usual Python irreverence with a bit of blasphemy. Early, this is episodic, using these situational snippets to have fun with life in a spiritually-hungry Roman-occupied Judea. By the end, it's settled on a plot when Brian is mistaken for a messiah, and the bits--the crowd shouting things in unison and the speech impediments of Pontius Pilate and Biggus Dickus--are stretched to the point where it feels like they ran out of ideas and had time to fill. The turning point involves a sandal, the Python boys satirizing the way a person's message, or in this case a lack of message, can be corrupted. Cleese, Idle, Gilliam, Chapman, Jones, and Palin each play a variety of characters, and after more than a decade, they still bounce off each other so well and have terrific chemistry and comedic timing. There are lots of really funny moments, climaxing with glorious irony in the fun musical crucifixion number, "Always Look on the Bright Side of Life."
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