Monty Python's The Meaning of Life

March. 31,1983      R
Rating:
7.5
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Trailer Synopsis Cast

Life's questions are 'answered' in a series of outrageous vignettes, beginning with a staid London insurance company which transforms before our eyes into a pirate ship. Then there's the National Health doctors who try to claim a healthy liver from a still-living donor. The world's most voracious glutton brings the art of vomiting to new heights before his spectacular demise.

Terry Gilliam as  Various Roles
Graham Chapman as  Various Roles
John Cleese as  Various Roles
Eric Idle as  Various Roles
Terry Jones as  Various Roles
Michael Palin as  Various Roles
Carol Cleveland as  Various Roles
Simon Jones as  Cedric
Patricia Quinn as  Mrs. Williams
Judy Loe as  Nurse #1

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Reviews

Limerculer
1983/03/31

A waste of 90 minutes of my life

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Anoushka Slater
1983/04/01

While it doesn't offer any answers, it both thrills and makes you think.

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Maleeha Vincent
1983/04/02

It's funny, it's tense, it features two great performances from two actors and the director expertly creates a web of odd tension where you actually don't know what is happening for the majority of the run time.

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Cristal
1983/04/03

The movie really just wants to entertain people.

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Osmosis Iron
1983/04/04

Basically a glorified sketch show, but if so then glorious it is indeed! Fantastic musical numbers and memorable characters in a twisted madness of pure genius that is Monty Python!

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Bella
1983/04/05

I thought that this film was hilarious and it had me chuckling out loud. I really liked the skit that they make their boss walk the plank and then turn their office building into a vehicle and travel into a city and then swing into the window and get into a sword fight. It is an epic battle and the narration is amusing as well. The cinematography was great as well. There were no shaking shots and everything that was meant to be seen in the shot was clear. The songs were hilarious. The Meaning Of Life was my favourite one. The lyrics and video to go along with it are both hilarious. I would recommend this film for older audiences as it contains adult themes.

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Evan Wessman (CinematicInceptions)
1983/04/06

By almost all accounts, including that of the Python troupe itself, this is the worst of their films. Yes, it's still entertaining at times, but it comes nowhere near the wonderful absurdity and wit of Life of Brian or Holy Grail. So if you have high hopes for this based on other Python material, I strongly recommend lowering them. There will be parts of this that you enjoy, but as a whole it's not as funny as you might expect. My favorite segments were the Miracle of Birth part A, Fighting Each Other, and Live Organ Transplants.There's no story or plot to the film, just a bunch of sketches strung together in a somewhat cohesive order. The modern equivalent would be taking a collection of YouTube videos by the same person. The only purpose that the film as a whole serves is to comment on the meaning of life. Now this might sound obvious, but what I mean by that is that the inconclusive nature of all of the sketches points to what the group is saying the meaning of life is: there is no meaning to it. As the similarly themed Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy tells us in its own way, the ultimate answer that we're all looking for just isn't out there or isn't one that's going to satisfy everyone or is different for everyone. But otherwise, the movie is just for laughs.Personally, I thought the skits that were not set in modern times were the best. Somehow, it's more refreshing to see their comedy in a historical setting, as is done with the first two Python films, than in the present. This is not true of all comedy. John Hughes does an excellent job commenting on the culture of his time through comedy. But for others like Mel Brooks it's where they blossom. This was part of what made the war sketches entertaining for me.The role that each actor gets to play throughout is spread pretty evenly. There is no lead role for Graham Chapman to play this time, but there are plenty of women for Terry Jones to impersonate and room can always be made for John Cleese's versatility, Michael Palin's bawdiness, or Eric Idle's grins. The only place where they aren't featured much is the short at the beginning, which could have been a little shorter but was still fun.You can watch this movie in pretty much any order, so feel free to skip around and find scenes that you like or have a friend show you the best ones. It's fine if you watch it sequentially, but nothing is gained or lost by it. For this reason, I would recommend that you watch it all the way through unless you are completely turned off by the Python style and this is your first time. It probably shouldn't be the first Python you watch (Life of Brian is probably the best one to start with). If your interested, go in with low expectations and an open mind. Overall Rating: 8.2/10.

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Rainey Dawn
1983/04/07

A fun filled sketch comedy that will have you giggling like a grade school kid again. The Meaning of Life is Monty Python's dry humored look at the world we live in and his comical take on the big questions that people have been asking throughout history. His answers to the big questions are quite funny.To enjoy this film, one should have an open mind, get dry and odd humor and have enough curiosity about life's big questions and ready to receive a comical answer. This is a good film to watch as a Sunday manatee and would make a great double feature with films like "History of the World: Part I", "Wholly Moses!" or even "Monty Python and the Holy Grail".8.5/10

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