Greetings again from the darkness. It's not often when the obvious comparison to a movie is the classic 1975 comedy Monty Python and the Holy Grail, and it's even more unusual for such a film to be making the rounds at festivals (I saw this at Oak Cliff Film Festival) where schedules tend to be loaded with serious and dark subject matter. This outlandish comedy won't be to everyone's taste, as it is profane and at times mean-spirited.
The year is 1347 when writer/director Jeff Baena's story kicks off outside a convent where it takes less than a couple of minutes to realize that these aren't your usual nuns. Profanity spews forth, as does laughter from the audience. Dave Franco plays a servant who has a good reason to flee from his King (Nick Offerman) and agree to a cockamamie plan suggested by the local priest (John C Riley). The plan has Franco working at the convent pretending to be deaf mute, while struggling to decline the advances from the aforementioned warped nuns played by Aubrey Plaza (the director's long-time girlfriend), Alison Brie, Kate Micucci (Unleashed).
Plot is barely an after-thought here, and most of the movie plays like interrelated Saturday Night Live skits. In fact, Fred Armisen and Molly Shannon are part of the ensemble, along with Paul Reiser and Adam Pally. Just as the characters begin to wear a bit thin, a new character is introduced, resuscitating our interest. Each of the actors deliver, but it's Armisen and Micucci who are especially fun to watch, as is Riley's tendency to turn communal wine into a community beverage.
Raunchy medieval comedies filled with debauchery and outrageously misdirected nuns could be classified as a bit of a stretch. However it makes more sense when you learn that Mr. Baena has adapted this from Giovanni Boccaccio's "The Decameron", and his use of modern day dialogue and attitudes, delivered by an ultra talented comedic cast, makes this one to watch after a particularly rough day or week of work. Expect an altar filled with f-words and blasphemy with a wink. If you are OK with that, you'll likely laugh and enjoy the temporary reprieve from real life even without any killer rabbits or Knights who say "ni".
The year is 1347 when writer/director Jeff Baena's story kicks off outside a convent where it takes less than a couple of minutes to realize that these aren't your usual nuns. Profanity spews forth, as does laughter from the audience. Dave Franco plays a servant who has a good reason to flee from his King (Nick Offerman) and agree to a cockamamie plan suggested by the local priest (John C Riley). The plan has Franco working at the convent pretending to be deaf mute, while struggling to decline the advances from the aforementioned warped nuns played by Aubrey Plaza (the director's long-time girlfriend), Alison Brie, Kate Micucci (Unleashed).
Plot is barely an after-thought here, and most of the movie plays like interrelated Saturday Night Live skits. In fact, Fred Armisen and Molly Shannon are part of the ensemble, along with Paul Reiser and Adam Pally. Just as the characters begin to wear a bit thin, a new character is introduced, resuscitating our interest. Each of the actors deliver, but it's Armisen and Micucci who are especially fun to watch, as is Riley's tendency to turn communal wine into a community beverage.
Raunchy medieval comedies filled with debauchery and outrageously misdirected nuns could be classified as a bit of a stretch. However it makes more sense when you learn that Mr. Baena has adapted this from Giovanni Boccaccio's "The Decameron", and his use of modern day dialogue and attitudes, delivered by an ultra talented comedic cast, makes this one to watch after a particularly rough day or week of work. Expect an altar filled with f-words and blasphemy with a wink. If you are OK with that, you'll likely laugh and enjoy the temporary reprieve from real life even without any killer rabbits or Knights who say "ni".