So-so
Avg. Critic Score: 45 out of 100 Mixed or average reviews Metascore® based on all critic reviews
Information for Parents:
17 not for kids
Read Common Sense Media review

Critic scores range from 0 to 100, with higher scores indicating more favorable reviews.

  • 75
    New York Post | Kyle Smith

    Like a lesser Python entry ("The Meaning of Life"?), it's alternately brilliant and frustrating. Read full review

  • 67
    Entertainment Weekly | Owen Gleiberman

    It's like watching "Yellow Submarine" laid over a celebrity-therapy episode of Dr. Phil. Read full review

  • 60
    The Guardian | Peter Bradshaw

    The film's depiction of the ugliness and strangeness of his self-hating LA celeb lifestyle is disturbing. Not just for Python fans. Read full review

  • 60
    Empire | Kim Newman

    A moving and often funny self-portrayal of Chapman that will delight Python fans. Read full review

  • 50
    The Globe and Mail (Toronto) | Liam Lacey

    The film only really has a pulse when it switches to live action in a few brief archival snippets, most memorably in John Cleese's appropriately outrageous eulogy for his late friend, an offering in the name of "anything for him, but mindless good taste." Read full review

  • 50
    Boston Globe | Ty Burr

    The results are exactly as patchwork as that sounds, with sequences of rowdy, sacrilegious invention punctuated by long spells of tedium. Read full review

  • 40
    Time Out New York | Joshua Rothkopf

    A coda shifts to video footage of Cleese's irreverent eulogy; you wish the whole film could have been as slyly somber. It's what the colonel would have insisted upon. Read full review

  • 40
    New York Daily News | Joe Neumaier

    John Cleese, Michael Palin and Chapman himself (courtesy of interviews, skits and various recordings he made before his death from cancer in 1989) chime in. It's an odd little trip, but if it weren't, one would have to ask, "Well what's all this, then?" Read full review

  • 20
    New Orleans Times-Picayune | Mike Scott

    But artistically interesting only takes a film so far. What it needs are laughs- - or at least a compelling narrative. It's got neither -- with the result being a film that arrives as dead as a certain parrot from a certain skit. One of the funny ones. Read full review

  • 0
    Slant Magazine |

    Graham Chapman's story, frankly, is better served by his Wikipedia page. Read full review

View more reviews for A Liar's Autobiography - The Untrue Story of Monty Python's Graham Chapman on Metacritic

Information for Parents
Common Sense Media says not for kids Comedian's animated life story is filled with sex, alcohol.
What Parents Need to Know Parents need to know that A Liar's Autobiography: The Untrue Story of Monty Python's Graham Chapman is an animated film that uses the voice of the actual Graham Chapman, who died in 1989 but recorded an audio version of the book the movie is based on before then. Despite the participation of fellow former Monty Python members John Cleese, Michael Palin, Terry Gilliam, and Terry Jones, this isn't your typical Python movie. Although it's animated, the sequences range from surreal to bizarre, and the content is very graphic, with strong sexual material and imagery (including both same- and opposite-sex pairings), as well as some animated blood and gore, heavy language (many uses of "f--k"), and innuendo. The main character abuses both sex and liquor and smokes a pipe throughout. There are few consequences for any of his iffy behavior, so if your teens do end up watching, be prepared to discuss the movie's messages about the "rewards" of fame.
  • Families can talk about A Liar's Autobiography's heavy sexual content. How is sex portrayed? Parents, talk to your teens about your own values regarding sex and relationships.
  • Why do you think the character drinks so much? What are the consequences of his drinking?
  • Does the movie make fame look enticing, or does it show a bad side as well?
  • Though Chapman claims to be lying throughout his "autobiography," which parts appear to be true? What makes them different?
The good stuff
  • message true0 Positive messages: Becoming famous leads Chapman to a life of parties and celebrity friends, as well as sex and alcohol abuse. Teens may see these things as the "rewards" that come with fame and success. At some point, Chapman begins acknowledging these problems, but there are few consequences for his actions, and he's not exactly redeemed.
  • rolemodels true0 Positive role models: Though he was a great comedian, Chapman portrays himself as a deviant and an addict who gets away with all kinds of problematic behavior. His recovery isn't very convincing, and he barely pays any attention to the good work he did for Monty Python. If teens are thinking about becoming entertainers, this isn't the movie to show them -- except as a possible cautionary tale.
What to watch for
  • violence false4 Violence: In an animated scene, the main character imagines severed limbs hanging from trees and littering the streets. A policeman looks for missing heads, while characters step over (and on) various bloody stumps. In this sequence, the character is portrayed as a small child who's looking at all this stuff. There's also a sequence in which the main character wrestles himself, also with bloody, severed limbs. In other sequences, a character is sliced open, and there's an aerial dogfight.
  • sex false5 Sexy stuff: The main character appears to be a sex addict, or, at the very least, is extremely promiscuous. He sleeps with many partners (both male and female) over the course of the movie, and -- though the film is animated -- many details are shown (naked breasts, pubic hair, etc.). There are surreal images of penises and strong sexual innuendo throughout, including the song "Sit on My Face."
  • language false4 Language: Language is very strong, with the focus on sexual innuendo/terms. Words include "f--k," "t-ts," "scrotum," "bugger off," "hell," "vagina," and "balls."
  • consumerism false0 Consumerism: Not an issue
  • drugsalcoholtobacco false5 Drinking, drugs and smoking: The main character develops a drinking problem and is seen drinking and drunk throughout. Hard liquor is his drink of choice, but he seems to drink just about anything. He has a "freakout"/detox scene, after which he gives up drinking -- with difficulty. He also smokes a pipe throughout and is seen as a small boy smoking a pipe.
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