A companion piece with "The Bed Sitting Room" (that one was made by Peter Sellers' fellow Goon members) in English surrealism. "The Bed Sitting Room" was very English and while "The Magic Christian" was based on a book by American Terry Southern and written by the same, it also has an English quality to it. Like most of the movies written by Southern (the exception being "Dr. Strangelove"), "The Magic Christian" starts off with no explanation and careens along until the end. It took me about a day after I saw the movie to finally understand what had been going on. The film is basically about what people will do for money and there are numerous skits showing this. Due to the plethora of reality shows on TV now, nothing in this film will seem very shocking since we see people do even more bizarre stuff on TV (although the part with the vat full of disgusting liquids made me feel a bit queasy). The only reason someone may want to watch this now are the many guest stars in the movie although the only ones worth watching are John Cleese and Graham Chapman and they were nobodies when this movie came out. Like all films of this ilk, once the shock value is gone, there isn't much else to recommend.
Review of The Magic Christian
The Magic Christian
(1969)
Another Sixties satire that hasn't kept up with the times.
24 January 2003