Captivating movie !

I really wanted to like this movie. I feel terribly cynical trashing it, and that's why I'm giving it a middling 5. Actually, I'm giving it a 5 because there were some superb performances.

As somebody who had not heard any of this before, it became a curious phenomenon to sit and watch a film and slowly have the realities begin to click into place.

This is a small, humorous movie in some ways, but it has a huge heart. What a nice experience.

The best look at the Pythons and pretty much covers their whole careers (as the group) as best as it can. Sure it would have been nice to talk a bit about what they did outside the group, but this was billed as being about Python, not about the individual members. Besides, any show that leaves you wanting even more of what you got, has to have been worthwhile. Totally recommended for Python fans.

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.

It's a fun movie that walks us through the history of Monty Python and how this troupe revolutionized sketch comedy. There is a bit of sadness here, in that they all look back in retrospect and realized what a train wreck Grahmn Chapman really was. It is interesting to watch the retrospective of these men, now in their golden years, but still recognizing the contribution they've made.Fun for python fans, absolutely. But even a casual Python fan has heard 90% of these stories before. So I'm not sure what is actually new here. There were personality conflicts, Holy Grail was done on a budget and was an unexpected success, Life of Brian was done as a real feature film, was controversial and didn't make its money back. "Meaning of Life", the boys had just gotten tired of the whole thing, and were phoning it in. They went their separate ways and enjoyed various amounts of success in other venues.

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 :)