NUNS ON THE RUN
A film review by Mark R. Leeper
Copyright 1990 Mark R. Leeper
Capsule review: After the negative reviews this film
has gotten it turns out to be an intelligent and witty comedy
with some solid characterization. In fact, its virtues are
many of the same virtues of the better 1950s English comedy
films. Take out one scene and it could easily have been a
story you would have seen Alec Guinness in in his heyday.
Rating: high +1.
STAR WARS and RAIDERS OF THE LOST ARK shifted the market for adventure films. Their slam-bang pacing spoiled audiences who previously were happy with the pacing of adventures such as SHE and THE MAN WHO WOULD BE KING. Monty Python's various films and television show similarly shifted the comedy audience. By pre-Python standards NUNS ON THE RUN would be a frenetic comedy with some interesting characters and a few good laughs. It has been getting some bad press as being not funny enough and lacking in the punch that a film such as A FISH CALLED WANDA had. Well, it really does not have the steady laughs of A FISH CALLED WANDA, but it is every bit as funny as the classic Alec Guinness Ealing comedies. And if it is less substantial than classic Guinness comedy, it is certainly more substantial than most of the modern comedies being made. That means that it is roughly eight times as good as empty comedies such as THROW MOMMA FROM THE TRAIN or BLIND DATE.
In NUNS ON THE RUN, Brian Hope and Charlie McManus are two aging hoods who want to get out of crime. Their boss cannot afford to have them possibly double-cross the organization, so when the boss finds out they want to leave they know their days are numbered. Their only chance is now to double-cross the organization and steal enough money to escape to Brazil. When their gang is going to rob a local triad gang, Hope and McManus see their chance to make off with the boodle. [Note of explanation: Someone can correct me if I am wrong, but I believe the Triads are the same secret organization sometimes known as the Tongs. The film makes fun of their love of cutlery. The real Tongs are as professional and deadly as any of their European counterparts.] Things do not go well for the two and they end up with both their own gang and the Triads chasing them. Their only escape is to disguise themselves as nuns and hide in a convent. But Hope is bewildered by the Catholic religion he is now expected to know. McManus is Catholic and tries to rescue him, but his explanations are little help. In the discussion of religion, the comedy is at its richest. Hope's very life may depend on his understanding McManus's muddled explanation of the Holy Trinity and the basic doctrines of Catholicism.
For the most part this comedy could have been done in the 1950s. It pokes a little fun at Catholicism, but never to the point that it is really disrespectful. The film's only scene that would have been out of place in the 1950s is a delightfully vulgar shower room scene. In general the film works like a well-oiled machine, with many diverse plot elements coming together in unexpected combinations.
Eric Idle of Monty Python fame stars as Brian Hope. Idle's age is starting to show on him and he looks surprisingly middle-aged here, but that helps to give Hope character. For once his antics are outshone by a non- Pythonite, Robbie Coltrane, who played Falstaff in HENRY V and Bob Hoskins's mystery-loving friend in MONA LISA. The film was written and directed by Jonathan Lynn, who in this country is best known for writing and directing the television shows "Yes, Minister" and "Yes, Prime Minister." While lacking those series' sophistication, NUNS ON THE RUN is still an intelligent, whimsical comedy. I give it a high +1 on the -4 to +4 scale.
Mark R. Leeper
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