In God We Tru$t
Dir: Marty Feldman
1980
****
In God We Tru$t was the second and last film to be directed by comedy great Marty Feldman following his 1977 debut The Last Remake of Beau Geste. It is a mix of Monty Python and the sort of thing you'd expect from a Gene Wilder film but considering Feldman wrote for both it is hardly surprising and shouldn't be regarded as anything other than original comedy. Unlike Monty Python's Life of Brian, In God We Tru$t takes more of a swipe at evangelicalism, although a lot of what is parodied has weirdly come true. It's the little skits within the film that really make it the fall about film that it is. Feldman's physical comedy reaches much further than his wonky eyes and the brilliant props really are genius, my favorite being a sign that hangs outside the monastery where the Monks, who have taken a vow of silence, reads "Keep thy Trappist shut". Louise Lasser is lovely as the Hooker that teaches Feldman's Brother Ambrose about sex, describing the act as ordering dinner, and Peter Boyle is reunited with Feldman as a down on his luck religious con-artist. Richard Pryor almost steals the show as G.O.D. a supreme supercomputer but it is Andy Kaufman as televangelist Armageddon T. Thunderbird who makes the film somewhat unforgettable. Brilliant comedy from some sorely missed greats. Satire has never been so innocent, it's so sweat that I'm sure even the Pope could forgive them their fun.