--- title: "Monty Python's The Meaning of Life: the reviews" canonical: "https://film.one/film/monty-pythons-the-meaning-of-life/reviews" title_page: "https://film.one/film/monty-pythons-the-meaning-of-life" critics_score: 70 critics_reviews: 7 licence: "© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL." --- # Monty Python's The Meaning of Life (1983): what the critics said Critics' score 70 from 7 reviews: 4 positive, 3 mixed, 0 negative. Most critics find Monty Python’s The Meaning of Life funny enough to reward its unevenness, with praise centred on its irreverence, imaginative sketches and willingness to be tasteless. The reviews repeatedly single out ‘Every Sperm Is Sacred’ and the insurance clerks’ mutiny among the memorable sequences. Eye for Film also praises the dialogue, performances and Gilliam animations, arguing that the sketch format suits the team despite the lack of a conventional narrative. The spread runs from qualified appreciation to firmer enthusiasm, rather than outright rejection. Reservations concern weak individual sketches, a piecemeal structure and spectacle that sometimes gets in the way of the comedy. The New York Times favours the smaller, more intimate scenes over the elaborate production. Particular sequences divide opinion too: Radio Times admires the financial institution’s pirate episode but finds the restaurant gluttony nasty, while Eye for Film considers the opening short out of place. ## The Hollywood Reporter — Robert Osborne Fi1m's normalised score 75/100 (inferred from the text). 25 March 1983. The review finds the film tasteless yet imaginative and mischievous, with breakneck pacing and standout sequences like the gross-out restaurant scene and 'Every Sperm Is Sacred' number that capture Python's irreverent humor. It credits the communal Python effort and predicts strong appeal to young audiences. [Read the review](https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/general-news/monty-pythons-meaning-life-review-1983-movie-1097286/) ## Variety — Variety Staff Fi1m's normalised score 75/100 (inferred from the text). 1 January 1983. Gross, silly, caustic and tasteless, it is above all funny. Most sections deliver comedic punch without lingering too long, though some war passages fall flat. [Read the review](https://variety.com/1982/film/reviews/monty-python-s-the-meaning-of-life-1200425486/) ## RogerEbert.com — Roger Ebert Fi1m's normalised score 70/100 (inferred from the text). 1 April 1983. The Pythons ultimately win with their boundary-pushing comedy. The insurance clerks' mutiny sequence that turns the building into a surreal ship is singled out as wonderful. [Read the review](https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/monty-pythons-meaning-of-life-1983) ## Empire — Ian Nathan Fi1m's normalised score 65/100 (inferred from the text). 1 March 2007. The film is viewed as a lesser work than Life of Brian or Holy Grail, too piecemeal and unfocused overall. It still delivers some of the team's most iconic and inspired moments, including memorable sketches like the exploding Mr Creosote and the 'Every Sperm Is Sacred' number. [Read the review](https://www.empireonline.com/movies/reviews/monty-pythons-meaning-life-review/) ## The New York Times — Vincent Canby Fi1m's normalised score 65/100 (inferred from the text). 31 March 1983. It is a monumental revue that is sometimes hilarious and colossally rude but often overwhelmed by its production values. The film works best in its more intimate, less spectacular sequences. [Read the review](https://www.nytimes.com/1983/03/31/movies/monty-python-the-meaning-of-life.html) ## Radio Times — Tom Hutchinson Rating 3/5. The critic describes the film as a pick 'n' mix of comedy sketches exploring human existence from conception to death. It is called British humour at its most tasteless and occasionally brilliant, with praise for the pirate sequence on a financial institution and criticism of the glutton scene as wholly nasty; overall an acquired taste. [Read the review](https://www.radiotimes.com/movie-guide/b-yr33mt/monty-pythons-the-meaning-of-life/) ## Eye for Film — Keith Dudhnath Fi1m's normalised score 80/100 (inferred from the text). 9 August 2004. The critic praises the film's comedy sketches as the Pythons' best in terms of belly laughs, despite lacking a conventional narrative, and notes it works perfectly as pure Monty Python. They single out the sublime dialogue, performances, and Gilliam animations for praise, while complaining about the Crimson Permanent Assurance short feeling out of place. [Read the review](https://www.eyeforfilm.co.uk/review/monty-pythons-the-meaning-of-life-film-review-by-keith-dudhnath) ## Collider — Rob Vaux 17 October 2013. The film serves as an ideal swan song for Monty Python, returning to their sketch roots with an uproarious send-up of life stages, God, and religion. It features several of their funniest bits but is undermined by weaker sketches that go nowhere. [Read the review](https://collider.com/monty-python-the-meaning-of-life-30th-anniversary-edition-blu-ray-review/) --- © Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL. Our review: https://film.one/film/monty-pythons-the-meaning-of-life.md