At 85 years old, comedy icon John Cleese has launched a solo cinematic venture, a documentary titled John Cleese Packs It In. The film follows the former Monty Python member on a European mini-tour, a journey punctuated not by triumphant nostalgia but by a litany of physical ailments and a pervasive sense of grumpiness.
A Solo Journey Fraught with Grievances
The 80-minute travelogue, directed by Andy Curd, presents a fragile Cleese contending with a roll call of health issues including partial deafness, bone spurs, and vertigo. The comedian is unflinchingly blunt about his motivation for the project, with the phrase 'I need the money' serving as a recurring, wheezy gag throughout the film. Audiences are offered near-relentless gripes, from the frustrations of endless repacking to the irritation of being filmed at all hours, the latter perhaps exacerbated by the director's choice of unflattering camera angles.
Cleese also takes aim at modern audiences who fail to appreciate his classic routines, such as an extended bit involving him hacking up phlegm. Interestingly, the film provides surprisingly little footage of the actual stage show. Instead, viewers are treated to B-roll filler in locations like fish markets and cheese shops, and a particularly unlovely photomontage dedicated to the comic's battered big toe, for which he offers a warning: "If you've just had a mouthful of popcorn, look away now."
Fleeting Glimpses of the Old Magic
Despite the prevailing cantankerous tone, the old silliness and joy of Cleese's comedy do sporadically break through. He appears genuinely tickled by the fact that a lemur was named after him, and his curiosity is momentarily reawakened during a visit to a Buddhist temple. The most illuminating segment is archival, featuring footage of Cleese's 1991 sit-down with the Dalai Lama.
However, sustained inner peace seems elusive. Even his more jocular asides carry an ungenerous edge. His ribbing of fellow Python Michael Palin sounds more sour than fond, and upon hearing of the death of an ex-wife, he quips, "it was the wrong one." This aligns with his recent forays into the culture war and follows years of reported interpersonal disputes within the Python troupe, not to mention a very expensive divorce.
The Uncomfortable Questions of a Twilight Career
For fans holding misty-eyed memories of the Fawlty Towers and Monty Python era, this bathetic endeavour might prove disappointing. Yet, the film becomes unintentionally revealing in one profound respect. It portrays a Cleese who is still front-facing, but undeniably fragile and frazzled, inhabiting a strange limbo. His situation prompts uncomfortable questions about our cultural icons: can no one afford a long, happy, and restful retirement? Is it the relentless pressure of capitalism or the pure, inescapable compulsion of show business that dogs our erstwhile heroes in their twilight years?
John Cleese Packs It In is currently showing in UK and Irish cinemas, and will be released in Australian cinemas from 27 November.
