| Home | Movies A-M | Movies N-Z | News |
Poster art from the Internet Movie Database
Lost in La Mancha is an interesting documentary that doesn’t seem to be fit for the big screen. It’s about former Monty Python guy and now director Terry Gilliam’s attempt to make a comedy about Don Quixote. It’s been in his mind for a decade, and now he’s deciding to do something about it.
Of course, nothing is that easy. First, he can’t get any financing in Hollywood, so he goes to Spain to shoot, and needs a budget of around $40 million. He gets $32 million. Despite all of those, there’s some that isn’t their fault. An airplane flies over a shoot that’s supposed to take place a long time ago. There’s a torrential rain storm, et cetera, et cetera, et cetera.
I don’t really know much about the story of Don Quixote, but I’m a huge Python fan, so I decided this was worth a look. I enjoyed it, but it isn’t the 4-star masterpiece that the papers make it to believe. Carrie Rickey of the Philadelphia Inquirer calls it “sad, funny”. I didn’t really find it sad or heartbreaking, nor did I really crack up. Sure, I laughed when I saw the “giants”, but I wasn’t rolling on the floor laughing (which two of the three Monty Python movies made me do). I felt bad for Gilliam, but that was about it.
I’ve never been a huge documentary fan, but if used effectively, I can tolerate it. This blended the right amount of interviews and narration to make it work. I, however, think this would have been better as a one-hour IFC channel documentary or a special feature on the DVD on something. Ironically, Gilliam is using the money raked in from this movie to fund another attempt of Don Quixote. Maybe this’ll be a bonus feature on that DVD.
It didn’t look phony, thank goodness. Sometimes, you can tell when these are fake, but this was genuine. I was mad, however, that only the crew members were interviewed, and not actors supposed to be in the film, such as Johnny Depp (whom I was never a huge fan of, but it would have been interesting to see his take). It didn’t get off topic or anything, except I wish we could have seen a little more of the actual film.
There’s not really that much more to say about Lost in La Mancha. It’s worth a peek, but really nothing to get your hopes up about.
Rated R for language.
Review Date: March 2, 2003