Monty Python is widely considered as one of the comedy legends. The 70’s comedy troupe is well known for their carefree jokes and willingness to insult anyone and everyone, often with religious premises. For younger readers, think of South Park on a larger scale.

One of their supposed ‘greatest’ works is the Life of Brian. Life of Brian tells the story of a man named Brian who was born on the same day as Jesus and is mistaken for the Messiah. The film is filled to the brim with raunchy biblical jokes and spoofs of important biblical moments. For example, the opening scene features the three wise men showing up to the wrong manger, and then cuts to the sermon on the mound, where watchers from the back row mistake ‘blessed are the peacemakers’ to “blessed are the cheesemakers.” It is offbeat comments like this that give the movie its long-lasting fame.

Despite the popularity of the humor, some scenes are so questionable, they make viewers question how the movie became popular in the first place. At one point, the titular character is abducted by aliens who look like they are from a low budget production of Slaughterhouse Five. Not all of the random comedy bits miss the mark, though. While attempting to aid the People’s Front of Judea in overthrowing the Romans (a side plot that fills most of the run-time), Brian is scolded on his latin grammar while painting anti-Roman graffiti. Plot twist, it was the Romans who insulted his writing and made him rewrite the graffiti 100 times in typical grade-school fashion. To provide a humorous ending, Brian and the other revolutionaries sing a song about staying positive while being crucified. Let that sink in. They preformed Always Look on the Bright Side of Life, while on the cross.

Overall, the classic comedy was enjoyable, but did not live up to the hype by any means. Other Monty Python works such as Monty Python and the Holy Grail are far more entertaining and deserve much more praise. Additionally, this movie has been the bane of existence for Brians everywhere as they grow up being compared to the movie. Due largely to the unneeded hype, Life of Brian scores a 7/10.