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Nuns on the Run (1990) More at IMDb Pro »

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24 comments in total

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9 out of 10 people found the following comment useful :-
Delightfully silly, 5 March 1999

Author: otter from Mountain View, Ca.

Eric Idle and Robbie Coltrane are two good-nature low-level mobsters, who are becoming rapidly obsolete in the increasingly violent modern underworld. A twist of fate finds them in possession of quite a lot of money belonging to mean and nasty criminals. Where to hide? A convent, obviously.

A very funny and very sweet film, a good-natured and sneakily intelligent farce. Idle is fine, and Camille Courdi as his near-sighted love interest is hysterical, but Coltrane has the best role as a lapsed Catholic who finds that pretending to be "Sister Euphemia Of The Five Wounds" has awakened a lot of feelings that are inconvenient for a professional criminal.

Warning: Some people might be offended by gentle humor about the Catholic religion, but I saw it with a very devout Catholic and she was laughing just as hard as I was.

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10 out of 13 people found the following comment useful :-
British gangsters dressing up as nuns -- now that's comedy!, 18 May 2001

Author: craigjclark from Haddonfield, NJ

I remember seeing this when it was out in theaters. It was the first Python-related film I ever saw on the big screen and thus will always have a special place in my heart. That, and it's funny as hell (or heaven, as the case may be).

There are lots of memorable quotes ("God is like a shamrock -- small, green and split three ways.") and hilarious performances. I've always loved the scene where Robbie Coltrane finds a unique use for a bedpan. And the music -- by Yello and Hidden Faces -- is perfect.

As comedies go there have been funnier ones than "Nuns on the Run," but it works more often than not, and that's what really matters.

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6 out of 6 people found the following comment useful :-
Handmade with Care., 23 February 2004

Author: eroticroger from England

Handmade films started off by making the phenomenal Monty Python's Life of Brian, made several fantastic films to follow that, and just 11 years later wound down their production with this hidden gem. Nuns on the Run is a truly British comedy. No other country in the world can do comedy as well as the British, and this movie represents when they got just about everything right. Perfect casting, fantastic scenario and some hilarious one-liners. This was really one of the last great films comedies, with only Fierce Creatures and Chicken Run coming close since. Unfairly maligned, I seldom hear a good word said about it in the film community, yet nobody I know possibly has any criticism of it. It will continue to be a personal favourite of mine, and I'd hope that other people will in time realise just what they've been missing. 9/10.

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6 out of 6 people found the following comment useful :-
A great pick-me-up, 4 August 2003

Author: Riverstone from Chicago, IL, USA

I first saw this movie in the theatre in 1990 and it still makes me laugh 13 years later. It never pretends to be more than it is: This movie is goofy fun, plain and simple. A wonderful cast takes a script that would have been pretty standard in lesser hands and makes it into a very enjoyable time. There are so many funny throw-away lines that it's hard to pick a favorite, although the exchange between Camilla Codouri and the elderly retired nun: "Oy!...OY!!" "Are you a nun?" "Oh, very funny! What do you want?" and Lila Kaye bellowing "Get out of the bloody way!!" are at the top of my list.The effortlessness of the cast and the obvious fun they seem to be having really make this a wonderful movie. And with the Catholic Church screaming about gay marriage in an effort to divert attention from their lack of action in the priest/molestation scandal, a lot of the humor that skewers certain "christian" viewpoints remains current. Regardless, this movie always makes me laugh and if you're every feeling down in the dumps, this movie is a great pick-me-up.

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6 out of 7 people found the following comment useful :-
Unbelievably Hilarious!, 27 May 1999
Author: Martin Salt from Derby, England

This has got to be one of the most funniest films I have ever seen. All right, the plot is a bit over the top but it is just so funny! Robbie Coltrane and Eric Idle perfectly fit the bill of bungling villains and they spark off each other from the start. In my mind, these two are probably the best double act in a film for a long while. Camille Coduri is great and Lila Kaye is absolutely hilarious as Sister Mary of the Annunciation. A definite must see!

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3 out of 3 people found the following comment useful :-
These two sisters are a couple of real mothers!, 24 January 2007

Author: Benjamin Wolfe from USA

*** This comment may contain spoilers ***

I went to see this with my cousin Dave, back in 1990. I was visiting Oregon and we both went to see a movie, this looked really good to me. Now, I was only really familiar with the likes of, "The Benny Hill Show" and not with much else English. My cousin might as well have been a rock-star, he was into heavy metal and had no care or ties to class or culture. At any rate, we went and agreed on this in sort of a 'flip' manner. When the previews ended, I forgot what we came to see, so did Dave, but just shortly after starting, the story was infectious!! We both laughed and laughed, all the way through.

These two Englishmen Idle and Coltrane and a cast that I had never seen before, just lit up. The music was a delightful companion to the movie.

I know that usually with comedy, in a certain culture you might get it or you might not, if you are not from that country or culture. So with that I realized, that I wouldn't catch it all. But, instead of feeling like an outsider, I felt as though I was together on the same side as these two mob con-men in a story of nun 'Hammery' . What a nice surprise! My cousin was on it too which kind of shocked me . All in all, it was as if this movie didn't miss a single trick, the ending was a perfect wrap-up for Charlie and Brian bringing along Faith for good measure on a wide body 747!! And dressed for the job, as airline stewardesses !!! Coffee, tea or peanuts?!

This is a ten-star comedic bash of a good time! I recommend this classic to those who love English comedy. This is a real untarnished getaway English mob flick with a little Catholic confusion, at confession time and mayhem along the way, thrown in for good measure. What a comedy team-up, these two Eric and Robbie!! George Harrison was the one that enabled this to be made, I couldn't believe it, that good ole shy former Beatle, thanks again George.

The rest of the cast was smashing as well. Good show(****)

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5 out of 7 people found the following comment useful :-
Fun "Nuns"...., 18 December 1999

Author: George Litman from Marietta, OH USA

I'm not Catholic, and to this day I have yet to actually see a nun. But that doesn't make this movie any less funny.

Nuns aren't what make "Nuns on the Run" funny, anyway. This is the kind of movie where two guys (Idle and Coltrane) are only trying to get out of a job they hate (running jobs for a local gangster) and end up in a steadily escalating series of disasters that make things worse than before. It just so happens that they are dressed like nuns through most of it.

Of course, I thought that the whole cross-dressing thing was funny as far back as when Benny Hill and Monty Python (Idle's old troupe) brought this facet of humor over to us Yanks, and it still works. Must be a British thing.

The whole business with the gangsters, the Japanese and the poor innocent girl (Coduri) caught up in the middle of the mess helps the pot to boil to overflowing. There are plenty of verbal gems within ("'Five Wounds' for short!") and one or two bits of visual humor that still bring a smile to my face.

I still chuckle when I think of how one of the sisters comes to suspect the new "sisters" aren't what they seem after going into the bathroom after one. Get the idea? Good.

Director/writer Lynn has done better and worse but this is one to think of when it's a rainy day and you just want a good laugh that doesn't require TOO much thought.

Eight stars for "Nuns on the Run" and remember: Jesus is small, green and split four ways.

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2 out of 2 people found the following comment useful :-
You call this going straight?, 17 September 2004
Author: cyclone259 from USA

*** This comment may contain spoilers ***

One of the funniest comedy, if not British comedy films out there. Coltraine and Idle do such a fantastic job because they have great chemistry. It's a shame that they haven't done more films together, even if not a sequel.

POSSIBLE SPOILERS AHEAD

Actually, I'm not sure what you'd do a sequel about that could keep the pace of the first film, plus be original. The storyline of Nuns On The Run isn't itself unique, as there have been other films where someone is "on the lam", doing their best to 'blend in'. The thing that sets this film apart is the humour, especially Eric Idle, trying to teach a roomful of girls about the Trinity: "God is like a shamrock: small, green and split three ways." I'm not Catholic, so I hope nobody took offense to that, but it was hilarious. Of course the gratuitous shower scene was an interesting twist, but nonetheless it was another embarrassing situation for the two blokes to muck through.

This movie wasn't a huge box office draw, but does that really matter?

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3 out of 4 people found the following comment useful :-
As Good As A Fish Called Wanda, 3 June 1999

Author: John Morrison from Vancouver, BC Canada

This one didn't have the marketing push that A Fish Called Wanda had. Still it's as good a comedy and worth watching

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4 out of 6 people found the following comment useful :-
Hilarious brit film, 25 March 2002
Author: sandspider1 from London, England

Nuns on the Run has to be one of the funniest british movies ever made. From the very start it is genuinely funny. I have been a big fan of Eric Idle for years due to The Monty Python films,sketches etc and in Nuns on the Run is comic standard is definitely up to scratch. If you like a laugh or brit films, watch this.

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