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Life Of Brian

Showtimes: The State Theatre on 1307 J Street in Modesto. Saturday May 29, 7:00 pm
Sunday May 30, 3:00 pm & 5:00 pm, Tuesday June 1, 7:00 pm, Wednesday June 2, 7:00 pm, Tuesday June 8, 7:00 pm, Wednesday June 9, 7:00 pm

Starring: Graham Chapman, John Cleese, Terry Gilliam, Eric Idle, Michael Palin, Terry Jones, Sue Jones-Davies, Terence Bayler, Gwen Taylor, Charles McKeown, Neil Innes
Director: Terry Jones

Reviewed by Chris Ching

Holy Moly! Modesto is one of the few cities showing the 25th Anniversary reprint of Monty Python's Life of Brian! Seeing as how the Central Valley is the promised land for right wing christian conservatism, the distributor's choice of Modesto is quite a surprising one. Still, I'm not going to look a wise man in the mouth, and you shouldn't either since Brian is quite possibly the funniest movie ever made.

Not unlike The Passion of the Christ, this second feature film by the legendary British comedy troupe raised religious ire upon its original release in 1979. Brian, a movie about a guy mistaken for the Messiah, never pokes fun at Jesus as the flick's detractors wrongly claimed, but rather directs its aim at those of Christ's followers who take the Lord's message and completely f**k it up.

The plot revolves around Brian Cohen a contemporary of Jesus Christ. Whereas JC is out spreading the word of God, Brian is still living with his mother and working at the Jerusalem coliseum selling larks tongues and wolf nipple chips to sporting Jews. Under no fault of his own, Brian inexplicably becomes a prophet to the Messiah hungry public.

While many aspects of Brian's life have parallels with Jesus, the Son of God is never employed as the object of humor. Rather it's his pious and hypocritical followers (then and now) who come under the lash of the Python's hysterically acerbic tongue. A few choice examples:

• While listening to the Sermon on the Mount, part of the crowd gets into a fist fight at about the time Jesus solemnly states, "Blessed are the peace makers."

• A leper cured by Jesus complains to Brian his whole livelihood as a beggar has been robbed from him.

•In one scene, Brian implores his throng of blind followers to leave him alone and think for themselves. Their joyous reply in unison is "We've Got To Think For Ourselves!"

Of all the Monty Python movies, Brian is certainly their best even if it hasn't entered into the public consciousness like Monty Python and the Holy Grail . If you haven't already become a Brian "devotee", there is no better way than to see it on the big screen. And if you own the movie and have memorized the classic lines, then go enjoy it with those who also bust a gut whenever they hear the name "Biggus...Dickus!"

We'll see you at the State.

Rating: (4 out of 4 stars)

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