This is to date the last Eric Idle film (written, starring and produced by). It is by no means awful, but its not his best work either. The comedy is mostly uninspired sitcom kind of stuff with the occasional gag (his Indian family, the Hindu dream sequence) that reminds you he was once a major part of Monty Python's flying circus.
Idle basically has to play the innocent straight man in all this, which is not really his strong suite. Cleese fares a bit better as a criminally insane lawyer and injects some energy into the last third of the film. But Moranis reprises a version of his annoying "Spaceballs" character on roller skates and is more annoying than funny throughout. Much more successful is Catherine Zeta Jones who not only looks hot, but who's performance is alive despite being given not much interesting to do (we do see her naked backside through a shower glass door at one point--but much more of Idle's bum in the same scene). Barbara Hershey shows she's still sexy and tries hard, but the script just doesn't give her anything all that funny to do.
Director Robert Young doesn't help much. His other experience directing comedy, "Fierce Creatures" makes me think he's better suited to drama and sci-fi projects (he does an excellent job on "Battlestar Galactica").
If you're really interested in "Python" or Eric Idle type humor, best you go back further in the Idle catalog and skip this so-so comedy.
Idle basically has to play the innocent straight man in all this, which is not really his strong suite. Cleese fares a bit better as a criminally insane lawyer and injects some energy into the last third of the film. But Moranis reprises a version of his annoying "Spaceballs" character on roller skates and is more annoying than funny throughout. Much more successful is Catherine Zeta Jones who not only looks hot, but who's performance is alive despite being given not much interesting to do (we do see her naked backside through a shower glass door at one point--but much more of Idle's bum in the same scene). Barbara Hershey shows she's still sexy and tries hard, but the script just doesn't give her anything all that funny to do.
Director Robert Young doesn't help much. His other experience directing comedy, "Fierce Creatures" makes me think he's better suited to drama and sci-fi projects (he does an excellent job on "Battlestar Galactica").
If you're really interested in "Python" or Eric Idle type humor, best you go back further in the Idle catalog and skip this so-so comedy.