Sundance Review: Nuns Go Wild in Medieval Comedy THE LITTLE HOURS
The Sundance Film Festival has arrived! One of the things I enjoy most about this event is that I have no idea what to expect from most of the movies that I see. It's like playing a deadly game of cinematic Russian roulette. You pull the trigger on seeing a film you know nothing about hoping it doesn't blow your brains out.
The first film I saw at the festival was a medieval comedy called The Littlest Hours, and it didn't necessarily blow my brains out, but it was certainly a misfire that left me dazed and confused. This was an absolutely ridiculous movie. I had no idea what the hell was going on in this film or what the point of it even was.
The story was is set in medieval times and follows three nuns named Alessandra (Alison Brie), Fernanda (Aubrey Plaza), and Ginevra (Kate Micucci), who lead a simple yet complicated life in their convent. "Their days are spent chafing at monastic routine, spying on one another, and berating the estate’s day laborer. After a particularly vicious insult session drives the peasant away, Father Tommasso (John C. Reilly) brings on new hired hand Massetto (Dave Franco), a virile young servant forced into hiding by his angry lord. Introduced to the sisters as a deaf-mute to discourage temptation, Massetto struggles to maintain his cover as the repressed nunnery erupts in a whirlwind of pansexual horniness, substance abuse, and wicked revelry."
The film was written and directed by Jeff Baena, who previously wrote and directed Life After Beth and Joshy, both of which I liked! This latest film of his, though, completely missed the mark.
I thought the story and tone of the film were all over the place. There were a few laugh out loud moments when the nuns would start shouting out vulgar language and beating the hell out of the poor maintenance laborer, but the whole nuns behaving badly thing got old really fast.
A lot of the comedy felt forced, and there was no natural progression. It was like the creative team kept trying to think of shocking things that they could do with medieval nuns, so the movie seemed like one stupid shocking nun thing after another. Hell, one of the nuns even turned out to be a witch, and that whole aspect of the story played out terribly.
Then there was the end of the film, I won't say what happens, but it felt like it belonged in a completely different movie! There were many disjointed story arcs in the film, especially the ending. It ended on a story element that was hardly even explored in the film.
I thought I'd really like this movie because I'm a fan of the cast and the filmmaker! Unfortunately, for me, the movie was more annoying than it was funny. I guess it just wasn't my style of comedy. I'm sure there's an audience out there that will enjoy it, especially if you think you'd enjoy bad nuns going wild in a terrible story.
I seriously have no idea how a studio is going to market this film to audiences.
