“I needed a good laugh this past Saturday. And when plans fell through and I realized I suddenly had time to myself, I thought it was perfect that The Little Hours was next on my list. Aubrey Plaza and Allison Brie as nuns? Yes, that’ll cheer me up. Well, it would have if the movie were actually funny to me. Instead, the 90 minutes provided me with excruciating boredom.
Aubrey Plaza and Allison Brie as nuns should be all the explanation you need, but I’ll add to it. So it’s the 1300’s (I think) and Plaza is a the troublemaker and Brie is trying to get out of the convent and find someone to marry. Enter Dave Franco as an escaped servant who poses as a deaf-mute in the convent. Add in drunken priest John C Reilly, head nun (the actual term escapes me) Molly Shannon, wealthy lord Nick Offerman, and an array of other funny types and hilarity should ensue. Except it doesn’t.
I read after that the screenplay was really just an outline, and the cast was left to improvise most of what they said. It shows. Plaza’s lines are very much her, and very little of the jokes actually come off as clever. As stated on Stardust, I think the film relied too much on the absurdity of the situation and cast to bring the humor. And that only takes you so far. The rest just felt like there wasn’t any real effort.
So I didn’t get the laughs I wanted. I really didn’t get anything I wanted out of this movie.
The Little Hours – \m/ \n”