Movie Night: The Adventures of Baron Munchausen
By Brian Barrett
One of the biggest commercial flops of the late 1980s also happens to be one of the most wonderfully imaginative, whimsical, and downright silly movies of the last several decades. Not that you’d expect any less from Terry Gilliam, especially when he was in his prime.
The Adventures of Baron Munchausen is a fable within a story, a twisted romp where Leviathon and Venus and the man in the moon coalesce around a civilized, pugnacious British Baron. Robin Williams shows up, hammily. Uma Thurman disrobes. And Eric Idle gets to enjoy what’s arguably his best non-Monty-Python role.
It would be impossible to describe the plot in less than an hour. And even then you wouldn’t have a good sense of the joy that drives it. But if you have two hours to carve out of your life tonight—and if you have an age-appropriate kid to share it with—go ahead and load it up. Even when it doesn’t make sense, it makes entertaining viewing. [Amazon Prime]
By Brian Barrett
One of the biggest commercial flops of the late 1980s also happens to be one of the most wonderfully imaginative, whimsical, and downright silly movies of the last several decades. Not that you’d expect any less from Terry Gilliam, especially when he was in his prime.
The Adventures of Baron Munchausen is a fable within a story, a twisted romp where Leviathon and Venus and the man in the moon coalesce around a civilized, pugnacious British Baron. Robin Williams shows up, hammily. Uma Thurman disrobes. And Eric Idle gets to enjoy what’s arguably his best non-Monty-Python role.
It would be impossible to describe the plot in less than an hour. And even then you wouldn’t have a good sense of the joy that drives it. But if you have two hours to carve out of your life tonight—and if you have an age-appropriate kid to share it with—go ahead and load it up. Even when it doesn’t make sense, it makes entertaining viewing. [Amazon Prime]