Monty Python: Almost the Truth - The Lawyer's Cut

This series is for hardcore Pythonistas (like myself), casual fans, and those discerning younguns who have yet to be exposed to their wacky, irreverent, and cerebral brand of humour. I am writing this having seen only 4 of the 6 installments, but so far it has been great. Although retrospectives have been assembled at 20 and 30 year anniversaries, this edition has enough new insights and behind the scenes characters to keep it fresh, and by far the most entertaining yet. Sharing with us some snippets of old TV shows and comedians (and in the case of T. Gilliam, cartoonist/publisher Harvey Kurtzman) that influenced them is quite enlightening. I really like the solitary black background interview format, the editors did a terrific job in melding the comments by the surviving 5.....and they all look great. Speaking of great looking, even in her mid 60s, Carol Cleveland is still hot! I also love the comments by the various celebs who are also dyed-in-the-wool fans. Depending on their age, they had similar first exposures to the unique brand of humour as those of us watching the documentary. Might have to buy the DVD for the extras too!

Let's get the background out of the way first - this 6 part series for television is the first in- depth profile of the Monty Python group, who recorded their first TV show forty years ago. So the reviewer who complained that the five surviving members of Python look old only really need do their maths - by the end of this year their ages will range from 66 to 70!

Almost The Truth is set out as a series of interviews on six loose themes over the series - as well as Cleese, Palin, Idle, Gilliam and Jones we also hear from Carol Cleveland, Neil Innes, a number of celebrity fans and, in archive footage, the late Graham Chapman. It is a good format and doesn't distract from the tales that, yes, any casual fan will have heard before.

So why is this an essential purchase for Python followers? First, it presents them all with a fair chunk of screen time to share their views on the success of the series, films, etc. Second, it has a couple of rare extras - but nothing to get too excited about. Third, it has the benefit of 40 years distance from the original BBC transmission; now we know that Python had a legacy both in the UK and the US and we can hear about it.

Perhaps the last hurrah of a marvellous comedy troupe - yes they all went on to other things but Pythons they will always be.

This documentary took the road most taken: if you're documenting Python, be Pythonesque. That's why it gets an 8 and not a 10. The mini-sketch at the beginning got to be annoying about half-way through it at the first watching. I really didn't need the joke repeated 6 times. (And it is more reminiscent of the opening scene of Gilliam's Brazil than of anything by Python, anyway.) Then there are the animations meant to be homage's to Gilliam's works. Another miss. And there's the cutting-people-off-in-mid-sentence in interviews (which, of the Pythonesque directorial touches is the one that works best, in my opinion). The interviewee-being-seen-in-a-profile motif also detracted from the documentary. In short, directorially it's in a bad shape.

Having said that, the rest of it I loved. It is a candid tale of a troupe who got together only by some strange series of flukes, remained together for as long as they did because their various antics and inter-group quibbling somehow managed to cancel each other, left us an incredibly funny legacy (the highlights of which were done as quick-and-dirty solutions to some odd problems) and finally were fed up with it and went on to do other great things separately.

At no point does it feel like anyone is holding anything back. For example, the group is very open about their complete lack of interest in each other's personal lives, and how that made them not see what was going on in Graham Chapman's life, even when it was too big to miss.

Intermixed with this are well-chosen bits of archive footage (including interviews with Chapman that are edited in to sound just like the interviews with the five surviving members), some perspective interviews with friends and contemporary comedians (as well as some actors and musicians), and mentions of some notable fans (mostly from the music business).

I am a Python fan, but (like the group itself, apparently) never dug into their personal lives, feeling that their body of work should speak for itself. So, to me, much of this was new, and I thought that just hearing the story of George Harrison's house and its connection to Life of Brian -- that alone would have made the watching of this documentary worthwhile... and there's a lot more where that came from.

A solid, well deserved 8.

You can pass on above comment because when you reach the end and read "They weren't that funny anyway! " you just know that this person doesn't know the meaning of life... errrr, sorry, the meaning of humor and nonsense :)

Just look at the bonus in the DVD of their movies, and you'll see they haven't changed at all :). Still the same spirit, they have the same look in their eyes, they're just very humble, full of nonsense and funny as hell.

If you've never laugh with the Pythons, I don't really think that you can post a comment saying it's boring, not fun, and just for money and that they grew old because even when they were young you missed the point :)

Its a documentary about a couple of guys. Well more than a couple of guys really as a couple gives the impression that there are about two of them and there is not. There is in fact 6 of them and one of them is now deceased, no more, an ex-python. So actually this is a documentary about 5 guys and 1 dead guy and how they became a group of guys, with the odd female thrown into the mix, that called themselves the Brady Bunch, no wait Monty Python, thats it! I'm a fan, I have been for awhile, ever since I watched one of Terry G's, not to be confused with Terry J, twisted cartoon links and wondered why isn't more comedy like this? 20 something years later, for me it's been longer for the guys, I'm still wondering why there isn't more comedy like this and I have come to the realization that its because....We, meaning I, interrupt this review to say go and see this film if you like Monty Python and if you have never heard of Monty Python, or if you enjoy a laugh and like to see a cow flying through space and if you don't like Monty Python and not 100% certain. If you don't like Monty Python and you are 100% certain, well done for making it this far into the review.