Like calling the ocean wet or the sky blue, calling MONTY PYTHON AND THE HOLY GRAIL the funniest movie ever is a bit like stating the obvious. While not everyone may agree with me, they must at least admit that it falls firmly in the top five, as far as funny goes, in such esteemed company as ANNIE HALL and AIRPLANE. However, with all its comedic merit, not to mention my undying love for this film, I have to say that this is the hardest film review I’ve ever had to write in my brief tenure here at Hybrid Magazine. It really boils down to one question, “What else can I say about this movie that hasn’t been said by hundreds of critics, not to mention legions of fans, for the last thirty or so years?” We’ve all seen it, we all know how funny it is. Hell, there’s a mighty group of us who can say all the dialogue from beginning to end, nary a word skipped. So you don’t need me heaping more praise on it; that would be lazy and too easy.

Instead, I’m going to talk about the effects of this film on me; how it has shaped my life and made me the man I am today. But first, we must get one bit of business out of the way. There is the matter of the 24 seconds of extra footage that has been added. It takes place during the scene where Michael Palin is in the castle with all the young maidens. The footage itself is a turn-to-the-audience and ask about the scene sort of affair, and it also features many of the other characters from previous and forthcoming scenes. Now, personally, I didn't think it added or took away from the film in any way. It was just there and if I had to pick, I’d have left it out. However, my friend Braden, with whom the love of Python is as strong as mine, thought it was hilarious, so it’s really a matter of taste. Mine of course being right.

So there’s that. Now, about me, a subject I’m much more comfortable with. I first discovered this movie back in junior high and it struck a deep, resonating chord with me, the way Jim Morrison does for many and Alan Greenspan does for a sad, sad few. I sat in a room with a bunch of other Python devotees and watched the film as this wave of clarity washed over me. This was what I’d been missing all along. This is what I wanted to do. And ever since, in every creative endeavor that I’ve launched, I’ve tried to make people laugh the way they did in MONTY PYTHON AND THE HOLY GRAIL. Comedy has been what I’ve excelled at; I use it as a defense mechanism and also to pick up girls. I’ve been a semi-quick wit most of my life and it can be traced back to this movie. It was when I began to learn how to be funny.

I guess that’s it really. THE HOLY GRAIL probably won’t have a long theatrical run, so I must insist that this week you make massive tracks to the theater to bask yet again in its wacky glow. Go, now, or I shall taunt you a second time!!!

—Clint Davis

hybridCinema Ratings Guide:

Take a pal and pay full price for both tickets.

It’s worth a full-price ticket.

It’s worth a matinee ticket.

Wait for video rental.

Check out the video from the library, if you must.

While we would never encourage anyone to destroy a video...