The Odd Job

Graham Chapman was one of the members of Monty Python, though he also starred on a variety of shows before this such as "The Frost Report" and "At Last the 1948 Show". In each case, he acted and wrote for the various TV shows. Sadly, in his later years, alcoholism negatively impacted on his career. This is one of the projects he worked on following the final episodes of "Monty Python's Flying Circus".

The story begins with Arthur (Chapman) coming home from work...only to find that his wife is leaving him. Depressed about this, he decides to kill himself in a most unusual manner...to pay someone to murder him unexpectedly...such as in the Burt Reynolds film "The End". However, when his wife returns, he's unable to find the would-be killer to call off the contract!

If this seems like a familiar concept, it is. I have seen several films with similar ideas and it was remade as the Burt Reynolds film "The End". It also was originally by Chapman as an episode of "Six Dates With Barker"...starring Ronnie Barker instead of Graham Chapman.

The best thing about this film is the often strange dialog...not exactly hilarious but odd and striking. While I didn't adore the film, it is more enjoyable and more subtle than "The End". An interesting film...but not something you should rush to see.

Graham Chapman returns home for his fifth anniversary, to discover that wife Diana Quick is leaving him. He's dull. After driving around half of London, she stays at mutual friend Tony Sloane's home. Chapman gets drunk. The next morning, Miss Quick calls, and he decides to commit suicide, but can't figure out how. That's when odd jobs man David Jason knocks on the door. They decide that he'll kill him unexpectedly over the next few days. Then Miss Quick returns and he changes his mind. Jason, however, does an honest bit of work, even though he keeps killing the wrong person. He keeps trying to off Chapman, though.

Comedians trying to kill themselves dates back at least to Max Linder in LE PENDU. The idea of hiring someone to kill yourself and then changing your mind at least to Jules Verne in LES TRIBULATIONS D'UN CHINOIS EN CHINE, which was made into a movie by de Broca starring Jean-Paul Belmondo. So this has a long lineage.

What will surprise people is that Chapman, despite his Monty Python roots, is not particularly funny. He is, as Miss Quick notes, dull, and his reactions to the situations are bizarre rather than funny. He is the center around which the comic characters circle, especially Jason, but also cops Edward Hardwicke, and an assemblage of mobsters hired to protect him from his would-be assassin. Still, there are plenty of things to laugh at in this black comedy.

This movie stars Monty Python's Graham Chapman and apparently hasn't been seen by many people considering there are less than 10 votes on it. I bought the video for $5 at a flea market since I'm a Python fan, figured I'd check it out. It's ok. Nothing special..kind of a one-joke premise...hire a guy to kill you, decide you don't want him to...then the guy won't quit until the job is done. Pretty funny ending though. What a lot of people don't know is that the American version of this was Burt Reynolds and Dom DeLuise who remade it as "The End." I watched it once then resold it on ebay for twice what I paid - hurrah! It's out of print so its tough to find, unless you hit a flea market or an old 1980's video store that has this, Adventures of Pac-Man, and the original copies of all 9 Friday the 13ths..good luck!...7 out of 10 (average rating).

Had good hopes for this 70s flick with Python's Chapman, but it's really not that good.

This was originally a short script and the filler shows. It rambles through unfunny situations and soon, to paraphrase Python, you feel like it goes on and on and on until you start foaming at the mouth and fall over backwards.

To be fair, there were lots of these B Brit films made in the 70s. This one tries to promote itself on Python's back, only there is nothing Pythonesque about it.

There's nothing funny about it either. Should be of interest only to die hard Python fans who want to see a second rate curio made during the height of Python's tenure.

As a Life long Python Fan, and minor Featured cast member in one of their films, I loved this superbly Written, Acted and Directed film, which I have only just seen for the first time, as of 30/6/2022, made in 1978 London, the Graham Chapman humour shines throughout, and so no true python fan, or lover of 1970's UK comedy films should be disappointed ,an excellent job by Cast and Crew in making a comedy as only Chapman could, especially the ending, typical Graham Chapman style, , so glad I found this, I rate it 10 out of 10, both for it's over all enjoyment factor, and out of Loyalty to a much loved Monty Python Member ,the amazing Graham Chapman, fine acting and a comic legend, who sadly died age 48,on 4th October 1989.