There were a few movies from around this period that had huge, amazing casts, yet somehow did not make a ripple on either pop culture or the box office. I remember being very intrigued by this movie when it came out, but the fact that I never saw any trailers or TV ads seemed very odd to my young self. And then it was gone from theaters in about two weeks.
Fortunately, HBO was there to assuage my curiosity, as this movie went into regular rotation not long thereafter. I found it a mildly amusing diversion, but then I was 11 years old. Like I said, there was a slew of mildly amusing yet completely forgettable movies with huge casts in those years, so in the context of the times, my expectations had been well muffled.
A couple of years later we had Yellowbeard, which, while funnier than this movie, was still unfunny enough in comparison to its pedigree, that it stood out as a bigger failure. At least Wholly Moses seemingly had no ambitions in comparison. In terms of "meandering historic comedies with big casts, that came out after Life of Brian"*, probably the most successful was History of the World Part I. But Mel Brooks is kind of in his own category.
Did I just give you a new idea? No, wait! Forget I said anything! Uhh...look over there!
There were a few movies from around this period that had huge, amazing casts, yet somehow did not make a ripple on either pop culture or the box office. I remember being very intrigued by this movie when it came out, but the fact that I never saw any trailers or TV ads seemed very odd to my young self. And then it was gone from theaters in about two weeks.
Fortunately, HBO was there to assuage my curiosity, as this movie went into regular rotation not long thereafter. I found it a mildly amusing diversion, but then I was 11 years old. Like I said, there was a slew of mildly amusing yet completely forgettable movies with huge casts in those years, so in the context of the times, my expectations had been well muffled.
A couple of years later we had Yellowbeard, which, while funnier than this movie, was still unfunny enough in comparison to its pedigree, that it stood out as a bigger failure. At least Wholly Moses seemingly had no ambitions in comparison. In terms of "meandering historic comedies with big casts, that came out after Life of Brian"*, probably the most successful was History of the World Part I. But Mel Brooks is kind of in his own category.