Good concept, poorly executed.

Beautiful, moving film.

Although it has its amusing moments, in eneral the plot does not convince.

I think this is a new genre that they're all sort of working their way through it and haven't got all the kinks worked out yet but it's a genre that works for me.

This clearly grew out of Michael Palin's Ripping Yarns series on television and I suspect that most of the adverse comments on IMDb might have been more positive had the film been kept to Ripping Yarns length, but of course feature films need to weigh in at around ninety minutes and that may have been the problem. As it is it's certainly likable with some fine performances on offer. It's difficult to believe that Palin was not familiar with the case of the Vicar of Stiffkey whose interpretation of 'saving' fallen women was to save them for himself. Where the chap from Stiffkey was self-motivated Palin has his clergyman acting on orders from the Bishop although when required to provide more than spiritual comfort he is not averse to so doing. Maggie Smith tends to overact as the well-heeled Lady Ames who's quite happy to shell out for the mission so long as Palin is prepared to adopt the missionary position whenever she feels the urge. Michael Horden contributes a scene-stealing turn as a butler badly in need of sat-nav and Trevor Howard sends himself up. Not a world-beater by any means but as newspaper freebies go this is one of the better ones.

I've seen this movie in the ORIGINAL WIDESCREEN VERSION with audiences as diverse as art house theaters, US Navy ships on deployment, and home viewing with friends, and even in the midst of sailors on 8 month deployments there was a genuine enjoyment of the plot and characters. What a shame the excellence has been completely gutted from the film by a horrible Pan and Scan adaptation. It is for such criminal efforts that whipping posts should be retained in public squares.The movie is a period piece that is more like a Gosford Park with humor than a Pretty Woman as a Victorian costume drama. Handmade Films were ALWAYS films that "teemed with quiet fun", and this one is no exception.However, when HALF THE SCREEN IS MISSING IT'S HARD TO APPRECIATE THE HUMOR! There's the irony of two men of the cloth talking about the soul building merit of sport, as they pass a bloody-faced 'sport' being hammered into a boxing ring turnbuckle, BUT that's all lost when you don't see the bloody-faced 'sport'. There's the maid in the house forever hovering like some dark force of unrequited passion, together with the swish-swish of her dress, BUT that's all lost when you RARELY see the maid, and you certainly don't see the expressions on her face when the action is allegedly on the other characters in the scene.There's also the scene at the end that's been 'edited out' of recent releases of this film where the butler, Michael Hordern, ends up getting into bed with the divorced husband of the heroine of the film, Maggie Smith.Finally, there's the absolutely ROUSING Music Hall finale, where half the screen is devoted to an obvious 'offspring' of Fortesque turning over a scrapbook that details the life of the main characters after the film ends. It's such a great scene that I've had people request to see just IT as a sort of finale to a night's worth of movie viewing.IT'S THAT GOOD! Without these scenes and half-scenes, what was an excellent plot, full of irony and modern sympathies, is butchered.To paraphrase Roy Batty from Bladerunner, "All those moments are lost in time, like tears in the rain" by a transfer to Pan and Scan.If you can find a letterbox transfer of this movie, BUY IT if you enjoy the Handmade Films genre; if you like Time Bandits even though it isn't Jurassic Park.Otherwise, the only thing to do is hope that some day, some way the 'long tail' theory of online video rental will provide it to people who can appreciate clever and interesting cinema.

Oh dear. This is a film which, contrary to initial expectations, bombed at the Box Office. Most Python fans have never heard of it, and on TV it is quietly tucked away in the late night schedules;normally sandwiched between a documentary on walruses and a Czechoslovakian cartoon.Supposedly a "parody" on Edwardian moral values, this film looks as if it was scripted and performed by sexually frustrated public school boys (and girls). The comedy is non existent and Michael Palin has a very haunted look about him - perhaps wishing, like the audience, that he was doing something slightly more rewarding.If you're still curious to know why this movie is so incredibly bad. Keep an eye out for on the TV.Set the video, and tape for a rainy day - a very rainy day!

The Missionary is a film that tries to be far to clever for it's own good. It attemps to be funny but very rarely achieves it's aim. There are moments that you can see are Pythonesque , and that is more down to the fact that Michael Palin stars rather than the script but over all this film is just...well..Dull. It looks very dated ( even though it is set at the turn of the century ) it looks like it was filmed in the sixties instead of 1982. The story is un-inspiring and ends as it began, with a wimper. Even if you are a Palin or Python fan i suggest you give this a wide birth. I just dont have to much to say about this because it left me bored. 3 out of 10