The Little Hours

With such a fantastic cast and an interesting premise, I really expected this to be better that it was. Hypersexual nuns at a convent is a fun gag, but it runs out of steam fairly early on. Given all of the comedic talent involved, I should have laughed a lot more than I did. There are some amusing moments, but they pop up far less often than necessary.

Loved it. We saw it at the Sydney Film Festival.

The film will struggle to find the audience it deserves because selling a medieval bawdy romp in today's market is difficult. I think back to the 70's and there were many more of these.

The cast is fun and the presence of quality actors such as Nick Offerman and John C Reily show it is not an ultra-low soft-porn production, though the titling could be referencing that at the start.

I saw this at the same weekend as the Beguiled, also about a group of women cloistered who encounter a single male. LH is far more fun and a better use of your time.

Set in Tuscany (no production notes on filming locations) it is prettily shot.

Nudity is not overused, there are a couple of breast shots and the full frontal stuff is in the distance by firelight so hardly tittilating. Nothing that was not done ad nauseum through the 70's

This movie is just... Weird. I don't know how to explain it any more without giving stuff away. It's trippy. If you like the cast, I'd recommend you watch it, because you'll just enjoy their performances.

I think out of the gate this movie reminded me of a cruder version of something like Robin Hood: Men In Tights. Nuns swear like sailors and the director doesn't seem interested in the dialogue sounding like the period its set in. But everyone involved seems to be having a blast and it starts off quite fun. I'd say it loses some steam towards the end when it switches to a more serious tone. I wish they had just kept the stakes low and not tried so hard to have a heartfelt ending. A goofy movie like this didn't earn such a thing nor did it need it.

I still enjoyed a good chunk of it. Some standout performances from Aubrey Plaza, Alison Brie and Kate Micucci. Dave Franco is sadly underused here and has been funnier in other movies (Neighbours). There's some others that are fine but some of the roles are quite small and the characters are literally only in the first and last few minutes of the film. Overall it's worth watching if you like the cast. Otherwise there's nothing remarkable to recommend to someone who is unfamiliar with the bulk of the actors.

In "The Decameron", Boccaccio writes about a group of travelers trying to avoid the plague. While hanging out together, they tell various stories to pass the time. Many of the stories are sexual and crude...something that might surprise some readers about 14th century literature. "The Little Hours" is based on a couple of these stories and the overtone of the film fits in with Boccaccio's vision.

The setting is in a cloister with some nuns who pretty obviously DON'T want to be nuns. This isn't really hard to believe, as during that time, unwanted and unwed daughters were often forced into nunneries...that, or face starvation. The story centers on three of them...three very worldly nuns who seem less interested in piety and more on sex, drinking and even witchcraft!! Into the midst of these wicked nuns is introduced a new groundskeeper...one who supposedly is deaf. And, being unable to speak or hear, the fleshly women, one by one, have their way with this handsome man. What's next? See the film.

This film clearly is a rated R film, as it's almost completely focused on sex. There is some nudity, but not nearly as much as their could have been....especially with "The Decameron".

So is it any good? It's okay...modestly enjoyable and worth seeing if you want something very different. A most unusual film..and while it might easily offend you, that IS "The Decameron"...a story filled with lots of lusty tales...100 of them (hence the name).