Movie: The Little Hours
My Rating: 5 stars
I fell in love with this movie. I like comedies about surly, foul-mouthed ladies behaving badly. And, if its nuns behaving badly, all the better! To top it all off, the filmmakers cast a ton of my favorite actors/comedians in this project—Aubrey Plaza, Kate Micucci, Dave Franco, Nick Offerman, etc. There are tons of great people in this. The movie is based on a pretty funny idea. The filmmakers have reimagined some of the stories in Boccaccio’s Decameron, but told in a very irreverent way. Now, those stories are already a bit lewd and rowdy. So, it’s not like vulgar comedy is out of place in a movie like this. In fact, it was inevitable that someone was going to eventually do something like this. I remember reading parts of the book in high school, and my classmates and I always felt like we were getting away with something fairly naughty. So, I’m glad that more people get to be in on the fun.
This film merges ironic, absurdist humor with classical literature, and idyllic Italian landscapes. It’s quite a combination. Perhaps the incongruity is another reason why I was so delighted by this project. Rumor has it that some of the writers and actors involved kinda just wanted an Italian vacation, and used the filming of this movie as a way to justify it. And, I think that breezy attitude may also be a contributing factor to this film’s casual ambience. The story is set in a nunnery—a pretty disorganized one. These nuns are a bit boorish, and they’re always giving the local peasants and their superiors grief. Of course, things get even more interesting and chaotic when a handsome, new handyman shows up at the convent. With this alluring new distraction, the nuns go from being mildly truculent to aggressively unmanageable. And, that’s exactly the type of fun I enjoy—bossy ladies living it up!
I went into this movie really hoping to like it, and I’m so glad I wasn’t disappointed. The trailer made it look like pure gold, and fortunately it was an accurate representation of the finished product. The movie did actually end up being a little more sweet and charming than I was expecting. And, that was a lovely surprise. But the sets and scenery really steal the show. They’re absolutely gorgeous. They really did film on location at historic sites in Tuscany. And, watching it really made me want to go touring around Italy. Everything is so gorgeous. I think you should definitely see this movie. Of course, you’ll need a good sense of humor. And it’d be best if you don’t get too embarrassed by liberal amounts of vulgarity. But, I haven’t had this much fun in a long time.