Lucybespro It is a performances centric movie

SpunkySelfTwitter It’s an especially fun movie from a director and cast who are clearly having a good time allowing themselves to let loose.

Sienna-Rose Mclaughlin The movie really just wants to entertain people.

Scotty Burke It is interesting even when nothing much happens, which is for most of its 3-hour running time. Read full review

itamarscomix Michael Palin was always 'the Quiet One' of the Monty Python gang, but he was one of the most talented actors in the group (second only to Cleese and maybe Chapman) and a key writer of some of their most memorable skits. In this, his one and only true vanity project - the only film in which Palin was the sole writer as well as the star - he didn't quite make the grade. Palin is a wonderful actor, but not quite as good at being at the center of attention as Cleese, Chapman or even Idle in his own over-the-top way; his character in The Missionary feels bland and uncharismatic, a muffled echo of his Sir Galahad from Monty Python and the Holy Grail (though it may be the inspiration for his much funnier chaplain character in The Meaning of Life).The Missionary isn't a bad film; it simply reeks of mediocrity and indecision, which leads to a sad feeling that it could have been much better. The writing is solid all the way through, but it's never quite clear if it was intended as a goofball comedy or a tongue-in-cheek social satire. As it is there's a little of both, but neither one goes all the way. The same goes for the characters played by Palin himself and by Maggie Smith, who are are denied strong, comical characteristics, but don't have any real subtlety or depth of character either. It's the more outrageous, cartoonish characters that are memorable - played by fine actors like Michael Hordern, Trevor Howard, Denholm Elliott, Phoebe Nicholls and a young but unmistakable Timothy Spall. Any scene with these characters works well, and that's when Palin's talent as a comedy writer and the famous Pythonesque timing pay off. Unfortunately these are sidenotes in the mess that is the overall film, which is dominated by the wasted talents of Palin and Smith.

graham_525 I really like this film. It's just one of those films that bring a smile to your face. There are some fantastic moments: Roland Culver dying while Michael Palin obliviously continues with his speech, Michael Hordern as the butler who doesn't know where he's going, Michael Palin being propositioned by a lady of the night (and accepting). It's just a very charming film.One thing that did strike me about it though is how we find situations acceptable if they are transported into the past. I don't think it would be considered very funny to make a film in which a Reverend lets three child prostitutes into his bed at once if it was set in today's London. We can laugh about the hypocritical sexual shenanigans of the Victorians though. Paedophilia's funny as long as it's in the distant past.

theowinthrop This is not the funny film it could have been. Given that Palin and Maggie Smith (and Denholm Elliot) were in the very funny "A Private Function" a short time after this film, this is slightly disappointing.I agree that Michael Hordern's brief appearance as the ultimately lost butler is the movie's finest moment - and I wonder if the germ for this idea was the Monty Python's sketch "The Golden Age of Ballooning", where Graham Chapman, as the butler for the Montgoffier brothers can't recognize what piece of furniture he is supposed to go to, and keeps requesting instructions. Hordern's hopeless invasion of room after room of the immense Ames mansion is quite funny. It was a good moment, but one of too few. Another is the business of Lord Ames (Trevor Howard, sort of spoofing his performance as Lord Cardigan in "The Charge of the Light Brigade") thinking of his favorite words - note how he loves to spell "flog" with two gees.The film is actually an anachronism of an historical scandal. It is set in the 1906 or so, but actually in 1931 there was such a scandal involving an English clergyman, Reverend Harold Davidson "the Rector of Stiffkey" (pronounced "Stewkey"). He had been leading a mission in the East End of London, and it turned out that for some curious religious motive he had actually had relations with the prostitutes. The Rector was defrocked as a result. Davidson was something of an exhibitionist, and he eventually met an odd fate - he tried to be a lion tamer and was mauled to death. That part of the story is not in this film (probably just as well). But the film still lacks real juice. Fortunately "A Private Function" turned out to have juice. And Palin also had "A Fish Named Wanda" in his future as well.

CharltonBoy The Missionary is a film that tries to be far to clever for it's own good. It attemps to be funny but very rarely achieves it's aim. There are moments that you can see are Pythonesque , and that is more down to the fact that Michael Palin stars rather than the script but over all this film is just...well..Dull. It looks very dated ( even though it is set at the turn of the century ) it looks like it was filmed in the sixties instead of 1982. The story is un-inspiring and ends as it began, with a wimper. Even if you are a Palin or Python fan i suggest you give this a wide birth. I just dont have to much to say about this because it left me bored. 3 out of 10