The Little Hours (2017)

"The Little Hours" (2017 release; 90 min.) brings the story of a group of nuns in a small convent. As the movie opens, we are reminded it is "Garfagnana 1347", and we watch as the nuns go about their daily tasks and deal with their frustrations. Meanwhile, the handyman at a nearby castle is found out to be cheating with his master's wife, and as luck would have it, he ends up being hired by the priest running the convent. It's not long before some of the nuns have "impure thoughts"... To tell you more of the plot would spoil your viewing experience, you'll just have to see for yourself how it all plays out.

Couple of comments: the movie is very loosely based on/inspired by the book "The Decameron" by Italian author Giovanni Boccaccio (and source for the infamous 1971 movie of the same name by Pier Paolo Pasolini). Writer-director Jeff Baena takes a couple of the dozens of tales found in that book, and builds a script around it that is intended to showcase several of the actresses playing the nuns, including Alison Brie and Audrey Plaza (the latter also being a co-producer). The handyman is portrayed by Dave Franco (brother of James Franco, and looking remarkably similar). It took my quite a while to get into the flow of the movie, as at first we're not sure what to make of all this (the F-bomb laced outbursts, for one). Is this even comedy? If so, it's certainly one with a heavy twist of semi-absurd Monty Python-inspired comedy. The movie really hits its stride in the second half, where there are some memorable scenes (the "confession" taken by the priest of the handyman truly is a classic). The priest is played hilariously by John C. Reilly, who seems to revel in this part. Given that I had no idea in the initial 20 min. whether I would even stay through the end of the movie, that is quite remarkable!

"The Little Hours" premiered at this year's Sundance Film Festival to positive buzz, and so when it finally opened this weekend at my local art-house theater here in Cincinnati, it was a given that I would check it our. The Sunday evening screening where I saw this at was attended nicely, somewhat to my surprise. Maybe people will find this a quirky little comedy. For me it was a bit too much all over the map, even if the second half is markedly better than the first half. In any event, I encourage you to check it out, be it in the theater, on VOD or eventually on DVD/Blu-ray, and draw your own conclusion.

Fmovies: This would have made a great 15 minute short on Portlandia or some other show along those lines. Sitting through this movie was pretty painful and the whole plot got old after 30 minutes. The premise of the movie was movie was funny enough, but after a while you just wanted it to end. Skip this one.

The Little Hours is an indie comedy with an appealing cast and premise that unfortunately is likely to offend more people than it amuses. Allison Brie, Aubrey Plaza and Kate Micucci star as three young novitiates in the Middle Ages. The first two would vastly prefer life away from the isolated convent, and are champing at the bit in various ways. The third is a goody-two-shoes who eagerly tails and snitches on the others for the slightest no- nos. In fairness, she's just as hard on herself, wearing out the confessional priest (John C, Reilly) who must endure her detailed recitations of trivial trespasses.

When a roguish servant (Dave Franco) is caught boinking the wife of a nearby lord (Nick Offerman), he flees in justifiable fear of his life, running into the drunken priest, who was in the midst of his own self-inflicted distress. After helping him recover, they devise a plan. Franco will return to the convent with him, pretending to be a deaf-mute laborer, allowing sanctuary for one, and a relief from the foul-mouthed invectives the young ladies had regularly screamed at the last poor sap who held the job.

That sets up the main theme - sexual curiosity and silly seduction attempts for everyone under 25, and perhaps beyond. When the befuddled bishop (Fred Armisen) arrives for an inspection, he's overwhelmed by the shocking closeted capers in the cloisters.

The film is loosely based on a social and religious satire of that era, Boccaccio's Decameron, which pointed it barbs at hypocrisy and other ills of The Church and The Gentry.. Writer/director Jeff Baena seems to have grasped what he wanted to accomplish, but did far better at reeling in a talented cast and finding exceptional locations than in giving them a worthy script to cash in on those preparations. The farcical element of the nuns-to-be flailing about farcically to lose their sexual naivete could have been far more amusing and/or titillating. The shock value of young nuns from long ago cursing like 21st Century punks isn't enough to carry an entire feature.

Baena's best previous script was the wryly comic I Heart Huckabees, which also tried to include intellect-oriented humor. Baena didn't direct that one. He also shared the writing with the more accomplished David Russell, whose credits include wearing both hats for American Hustle and Silver Linings Playbook. Baena still needs more time on the ascending side of the learning curve, but he's only 40, and seems to be heading in a worthy direction. After all, any guy with a relatively small list of credits who can sign so many gifted comic actors (Paul Reiser, Adam Pally and Molly Shannon, too) must have something on the ball to reward their faith, even if this wasn't necessarily it. Stay tuned...

The Little Hours fmovies. 'THE LITTLE HOURS': Four and a Half Stars (Out of Five)

A period comedy about a convent full of sexually deprived nuns, that begin experimenting (for the first time) when a runaway slave takes refuge at the convent. The film is based on the first and second stories in 'The Decameron', a collection of novellas (published in 1886) written by Giovanni Boccaccio. The movie was written and directed by Jeff Baena; who's helmed other indie comedies like 2014's 'LIFE AFTER BETH' and 2016's 'JOSHY' (both also featuring Aubrey Plaza). The film stars Aubrey Plaza (who also served as a producer for the film), Alison Brie, Kate Micucci, Dave Franco, John C. Reilly, Molly Shannon, Fred Armisen, Nick Offerman and Paul Reiser. It's received mostly positive reviews from critics, and a limited indie theatrical release at the Box Office. I think it's a hilarious movie!

Alessandra (Brie), Fernanda (Plaza) and Ginerva (Micucci) are three young nuns that are extremely unhappy with their convent life; and they all obviously have much deeper desires. They're so unhappy that they constantly harass men that work at the convent. After an employee (Paul Weitz) quits, due to their constant harassment, a runaway slave, named Massetto (Franco), takes his place; at the suggestion of Father Tommasso (Reilly). Massetto also pretends to be deaf and blind, also due to the priest's suggestion, and the young nuns decide to take advantage of him, in order to explore their sexuality.

Growing up Catholic, I'm always fascinated with movies that deal with religion (and spirituality). This is a very dark, and quite crude, sex comedy; that I'm sure most practicing traditional Catholics would not enjoy. I found it to be hilarious though. It's honestly laugh-out- loud funny for almost it's entire running length, and there's never a bad joke (in my opinion). The cast is all fantastic in their roles, and the subject matter is very interesting (and also quite timely) for almost anyone (even if you've never been to church). It's almost a 5 star movie for me, but not quite. I highly recommend it though.

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Silly parody of medieval period pictures, which fails to become really funny. A comedy, however silly it might be, needs some truthfulness in acting and story to be enjoyable for me. This story about nuns, swearing, fighting and raping slaves is way over the top and the many vulgar "jokes" are just made for cheap "comedy" effect. Vulgar can be funny. And it is to an extent, but vulgar jokes is all there is and one has to like that. Perhaps best suited for a teenager audience?

The story for those still interested: nuns in a monastery go wild. They swear, they fight, they rape. And they swear, fight and rape some more.

I really enjoyed watching this movie. Great cast! The chemistry is so good, definitely a new comedy classic.

The pace is perfect and keep me laughing throughout the whole movie. Great location and a beautiful treatment. I would love to see more stuff like this in the future.