I'm not Catholic, and to this day I have yet to actually see a nun. But that doesn't make this movie any less funny.
Nuns aren't what make "Nuns on the Run" funny, anyway. This is the kind of movie where two guys (Idle and Coltrane) are only trying to get out of a job they hate (running jobs for a local gangster) and end up in a steadily escalating series of disasters that make things worse than before. It just so happens that they are dressed like nuns through most of it.
Of course, I thought that the whole cross-dressing thing was funny as far back as when Benny Hill and Monty Python (Idle's old troupe) brought this facet of humor over to us Yanks, and it still works. Must be a British thing.
The whole business with the gangsters, the Japanese and the poor innocent girl (Coduri) caught up in the middle of the mess helps the pot to boil to overflowing. There are plenty of verbal gems within ("'Five Wounds' for short!") and one or two bits of visual humor that still bring a smile to my face.
I still chuckle when I think of how one of the sisters comes to suspect the new "sisters" aren't what they seem after going into the bathroom after one. Get the idea? Good.
Director/writer Lynn has done better and worse but this is one to think of when it's a rainy day and you just want a good laugh that doesn't require TOO much thought.
Eight stars for "Nuns on the Run" and remember: Jesus is small, green and split four ways.
