Monty Python's The Meaning of Life (1983)

Featured Audience Ratings

• Jeff "

  
  Monty Python's The Meaning of Life is a great comedy. Brilliantly acted, and directed, The Meaning of Life is one of those comedies that are still refreshing to watch after all these years. This is one of my personal favorite films that Monty Python has made along with Holy… More
  Monty Python's The Meaning of Life is a great comedy. Brilliantly acted, and directed, The Meaning of Life is one of those comedies that are still refreshing to watch after all these years. This is one of my personal favorite films that Monty Python has made along with Holy Grail. The use of comedy here is brilliant, like with every other film the troupe has done. This is comedy at its finest. I thoroughly enjoyed the film from start to finish. This is a great comedy, one that should be seen if you're in the mood for a great laugh. This is a well crafted comedy that delivers on the laughs. As far as the jokes are concerned, they are always consistent, and in pure Monty Python fashion, always witty, ridiculous and in this case, vulgar. However, this film isn't as vulgar as many comedies nowadays, which I feel only, use it for shock value. In Monty Python's case they use it to elevate the jokes and it works. The cast is terrific, and they all deliver great performances. The Meaning of Life is a well crafted comedy, one that remains a classic of the genre. If you want to experience a crude, hilarious Monty Python film, The Meaning of Life is the one. With this film, Monty Python stepped up a notch, took their creative energy of past works, and created a film that is one of the best films in their history. I always loved Monty Python films, along with Monty Python and the Holy Grail; this is my favorite film of theirs. A true classic and a great film filled with crude, but intelligent gags.

• Lucas M

  
  The Meaning of Life it's a terrific art work by the great humor group. This last feature is much more faithful to the TV show, without lose the surrealism and the dark subject, Monty Python goes in a more philosophical way to trying find the meaning of life in several sketchs,… More
  The Meaning of Life it's a terrific art work by the great humor group. This last feature is much more faithful to the TV show, without lose the surrealism and the dark subject, Monty Python goes in a more philosophical way to trying find the meaning of life in several sketchs, always interacting with the audience. A deadpan, surreal and unique quest.

• KJ P

  
  "Monty Python's The Meaning of Life" is a much different direction for the franchise, having a lot of comedy, while taking a serious route, talking about the meaning of life. I enjoyed a lot of this film as they brought back their classic comedy from the first two… More
  "Monty Python's The Meaning of Life" is a much different direction for the franchise, having a lot of comedy, while taking a serious route, talking about the meaning of life. I enjoyed a lot of this film as they brought back their classic comedy from the first two films, but when you rely on gross out humour, wasting time for the running time, and a ten minute barfing sequence, it becomes needy. This film tries a little too hard to be like the original film I think, but by the end of the film it felt like they had run out of ideas. Still, It is a lot of fun watching these actors be stupid on screen. "Monty Python's The Meaning of Life" is one of the weakest of the series, but the cast is undeniably funny and I can appreciate that no matter what. I recommend it for a laugh, but I personally will probably not watch it again. It was an average dumb comedy!

• Alexander D

  
  Disappointingly worse and unfunny compared to AND NOW FOR SOMETHING COMPLETELY DIFFERENT, HOLY GRAIL, and LIFE OF BRIAN, but as we watch it we are sure that some scenes are sure to be remembered, whether that is a good thing, a bad thing, or an ugly thing.

• Phil H

  
  Allot don't like this but I think its unique and really good. The sketchs are all really original and more sick n twisted than funny, you just watch to see how it ends up or how someones gonna die. Every sketch is brilliant, quite dark and risky in places, the effects look cool… More
  Allot don't like this but I think its unique and really good. The sketchs are all really original and more sick n twisted than funny, you just watch to see how it ends up or how someones gonna die. Every sketch is brilliant, quite dark and risky in places, the effects look cool yet tacky at the same time hahaha and the songs are really well done despite being ridiculous. There are too many sketchs to comment on but the topless ladies are good hehe, the meaning of death is probably the best section.

• Cassandra M

  
  "The Meaning of Life" as a whole is clearly not Monty Python's best work, yet some of the individual sketches - the film is really just a big-budget sketch show - provide some of their most inspired moments. But overall, this is not the sort of swansong that befits the… More
  "The Meaning of Life" as a whole is clearly not Monty Python's best work, yet some of the individual sketches - the film is really just a big-budget sketch show - provide some of their most inspired moments. But overall, this is not the sort of swansong that befits the Monty Python legend. Part of the problem is that, when the film was made (1983), British comedy was in the grip of the "alternative" revolution, as a new generation of comic writer/performers (Ben Elton, Rik Mayall, Ade Edmondson, etc) were beginning their rise to stardom and making the Python brand of humour look hopelessly out-of-date - alternative comedy was essentially comedy's "punk" to the "prog-rock" of Python. The film opens with a beautifully-shot, but utterly pointless Terry Gilliam creation, "The Crimson Permanent Assurance", which serves little purpose other than to provide a set-up for a gag later in the film. When the film proper begins, though, the familiar Pythonesque humour kicks in, and normal business is resumed, albeit patchily. The highlights for me are the "Live Organ Transplants" sketch, in which a man has his liver forcibly removed on his own kitchen table, and "Mr Creosote", the grossly fat diner who gorges and vomits his way to an explosive demise, both of which are the type of gross-out gags which have always found a place in British humour - even today, the "League of Gentlemen" team are proudly carrying on this tradition. Also, some of the songs in the film are among Python's best, particularly "Every Sperm Is Sacred", a wonderfully over-the-top song-and-dance number, and the cheesey "Christmas In Heaven", in which Graham Chapman gives the greatest Tony Bennett impersonation ever committed to celluloid. Unfortunately, much of the remaining material is meandering and tedious, and just serves to pad the thing out to its already over-long 107 minutes. Python fans will find a lot to amuse them in "The Meaning of Life", but don't expect it to be another "Holy Grail" or "Life of Brian" - it isn't.

• AJ V

  
  An outrageous comedy, sometimes a little too radical for my liking, but overall pretty funny, and it stars the great Monty Python actors of course, so you should check it out if you're a fan.

• Thomas J

  
  Easily my least favorite of the Monty Python movies I have seen. I may have just expected too much, but if that is true or not... I was disappointed with this Monty Python movie.

• Chris W

  
  This isn't my favorite Python film, nor is it the best, but it's still pretty good, and I do like it quite a bit. The Crimson Permanent Assurance bit is one of the funniest things I've ever seen, and it's a definite highlight. I also really like the bt… More
  This isn't my favorite Python film, nor is it the best, but it's still pretty good, and I do like it quite a bit. The Crimson Permanent Assurance bit is one of the funniest things I've ever seen, and it's a definite highlight. I also really like the bt involving Catholics and birth control, mainly because I can relate and can attest to how spot on the sketch is. "Every Sperm is Sacred" is also one of the funniest songs I've heard as well, again, mainly because it's so spot-on. There's a lot to like here, even if not all of it is up to par.

• Spencer S

  
  Not as good as their monumental Holy Grail, but very enjoyable.

• Alexis N

  
  oh god. it wasn't as funny at HOLY GRAIL, but it had one or two laughs. it was more like, the meaning of boredom!

• Jennifer D

  
  I've gotten about half way through and had to stop. Better review coming. LOVED the sex ed part.

• Tim S

  
  The least of Python's theatrical outtings does not mean it is the worst. This is a terrific film and a proper forerunner for Gilliam's future work.

• Anthony L

  
  Monty Python's last film and probably the one with all the best songs. It's a long sketch show in essence and with skits such as Mr. Creosote, it's the funniest one to date!

• Daniel J D

  
  There's a lot of funny stuff in there, but most of it just goes on forever.

• Pierluigi P

  
  Althought not their best, the Python crew managed to once again successfully mock of all british so-called sacrosanct establishments.

• Tsubaki S

  
  Some good sketches, then some very bad and simplistic, with over-use of cheap scatological humour. Could have been way better, the sex ed segment was good.

• Cindy I

  
  More silliness from the Python crazies. Not as good as Holy Grail, but still really entertaining.

• Gordon A

  
  Disturbed but hilarious rummage through life's absurdities with a wealth of quotable dialogue and funny songs

• Rachel F

  
  Soooo funny. Do yourself a favor and watch it.

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