La Bible ne fait pas le moine

This Feldman production is not the greatest comedy ever made, but Feldman co-wrote, directed, and starred in this Feldman-at-the-Helm vehicle. It truly showcases his talents as no other movie before it had.

While it does attempt to do too much, the attempt is not a waste. Feldman merely aimed his sights at Blazing Saddles and made the attempt. It pokes fun at Christians and all organized religion, the pop-culture of the time, contemporary ideologies, the action-driven cop shows of the age, and itself. This is one of those wonderful movies which knows it's a movie and never takes itself too seriously.

Feldman is Father Ambrose is the outcast of the monastery. When the archdiocese decides they must have more money from the outside world, or shut its doors, Father Ambrose is chosen to leave the familiar world of hard benches and stone floors, and venture out in search of their salvation. Ironic in that "salvation" is supposed to be their specialty.

There are some wonderful cameos by Richard Pryor as God, Andy Kauffman, and Peter Boyle.

Along the way, Ambrose discovers what he's been missing out on all those years cloistered in a hermetic order, and processes new information which enables him to rethink his choice from an informed perspective. He finds laughter; he finds that while men are corrupt, MAN is decent at heart; and he finds himself. All in all a very endearing, if dated, work.

It rates a 6.6/10 from...

the Fiend :.

This thing cracks me up.

I saw it on TV when I was a child.

My parents recorded it and it became a staple of my viewing choices while growing up.

I only wish they would have included the original opening title theme, "Good for God".

I was very disappointed when I finally got a new video copy several years ago.

I was poised for my traditional sing-along only to be presented with a new opening title.

If anybody has the ability to see the original, I would recommend it.

Either way, the movie is good for quite a few laughs.

A pretty good film,slow moving. Andy Kaufman steals the show as: Armageddon T Thunderbird a Televangelist.Andy Kaufman rehearsed for this role in London's "Hyde Park" and in New York City.

As so often, the IMDb voter average is nothing to go by, in terms of seeking quality. However, in the case of this very funny, even somewhat clever, comedy the 4.6 average is a joke. The reason for it is obvious: many people who have never seen the movie but heard about it and what it's about decided to hate it without giving it a chance.

IGWT is quite an offensive movie to believers, and anyone who is strongly Christian (or of any other religious persuasion) should not only avoid this movie, but pray to his God that He burn all copies of it.

Although, the movie mocks the commercialization of religion far more than Christianity itself.

As an atheist, I loved this movie and recommend it to all agnostics, other atheists, Christianity-haters, but also Christians who can take a joke. Provided, of course, that you don't mind raunchy, irreverent humour.

Feldman is quite weird playing an ultra-naive do-gooder monk who has never been outside his monastery. The premise alone makes one curious to see the film. The supporting cast is very good, too (Boyle, Kaufman, etc.).

Obviously not as good as the almost flawless mother of all religion-bashing films, "Life Of Brian", but with plenty of good and wicked gags at the expense of religion.

There is criticism that IGWT was just a cashing-in reaction to Monty Python's Jesus movie, but who cares if it was? There are plenty of movies that support religion, so another (good) comedy that goes in the opposite direction really can't hurt.

This flick (one of the least-seen comedies EVER, I believe) tries to be, at once, a slapstick chase comedy, an offensive religious comedy, a leering sex comedy and an expose of evangelists who exploit the faith of their naive audiences! The results are uneven, but not horrible. Apart from the much-mentioned already Andy Kaufman, there is a standout performance by Louise Lasser, as a warm-hearted hooker. Richard Pryor, as God, is underused, though. (**)