fedor8 Any movie with pigs in it gets my blessings. Perhaps one of the reasons why this comedy didn't do as well at the Box Office as its producers had hoped can be found in its awful title. Does "A Private Function" sound like the title of a comedy to anyone? It reminds more of a Lean or Minghella movie than a story about an illegal post-war pig. "The Pig With Nine Lives" would have been the other extreme – too silly-sounding – but given the choice between a dull and dry title only an accountant can love and a title that at least indicates a comedy - I'd go for the latter. Perhaps a compromise? "A Private Pig". So how much fun does APF aka TPWNL aka APP offer? The first half-hour serves as a rather dry intro, devoid of laughs, and even a little nauseating to be frank. Toe-nail clippings sitting on pieces of chocolate on the floor is neither my idea of comedy nor visual joy. I never really fantasized about watching a chiropodist do his filthy work either, whether in a chiropodical BBC documentary or a comedy. Foot-fetishists should be pleased, though. APF is a little too glum for a comedy. Typical dry British humour, but hardly at its best. I am not suggesting the movie should have been written and played as a broad farce instead, but a compromise between overkill/farce and glum dryness would certainly have worked better. The only real laughs come about during the bits with the abducted pig rummaging around Palin's house (and the farmer throwing eggs into the fire by mistake); the rest is preachy rather than properly comedic. The drubbing of the upper class was a priority, rather than laugh-out-loud situational comedy, hence why Elliott's doctor is so over-the-top nasty and unlikable as opposed to ridiculous and funny – which is how proper comedic bad guys are written. Elliott's (ironically very truthful) quip against Socialism ("what's yours is mine") reveals the film-makers' left-wing intent - to anybody who hadn't already suspected it by that point. Still, I wouldn't classify APF as overt Marxist propaganda, especially considering how extreme British left-wing propaganda can get. The political implications are pretty much solely class-related i.e. not too obvious.I had hoped APF would redeem its relative glumness by having the accountant and Palin hide the pig into safety; an ending that would have been both satisfying and in line with comedy's unwritten rule about the main animal character escaping the butcher's knife. Or the writers could have had Maggie Smith blackmail the upper-class snobs into giving Palin the lease for his shop – just minutes before the "Gestapo" inspector barges into the house and confiscates the pig (hence saving it, at least for a while).Another problem APF has is its extreme Britishness. Sure, any Mongolian or Moldavian viewer unfamiliar with British culture can understand the more simple gags such as a pig farting and crapping around, but a lot of the dialog and the early goings-on do presume that you're English. Certainly having lived in the 40s London is advantageous, too. I don't see what chance in Hell APF could have had on the U.S. and Continental markets.Ultimately, APF is a well-cast, visually ambitious British product with a clever plot but a disappointing conclusion and far too few truly funny moments. It succeeds as an interesting and fairly amusing post-war/black-market satire, but even in that arena it isn't ideal. If the ugly woman who plays Palin's wife seems familiar (to the younger viewers) and yet you don't know her name, then you've probably seen the resemblance to that awful son of hers, Toby Stephens. You might remember him overacting his butt off while playing that ridiculous Bond villain in "Die Another Day". Nepotism is a disease; like a zombie virus it spreads exponentially and once it takes hold cannot be eradicated without the use of atomic bombs.

Howard (howard-45) Life after WWII was bleak in England. Rationing was hitting hard, but spirits were lifted by the forthcoming royal marriage of Elizabeth and Philip. This slice of village life takes a poke at stiff England and the trials and tribulations of getting a slap up feast on the table for the local VIPs to celebrate the marriage. Michael Palin is the wimp, and marvellous Maggie Smith is the "trousers" in the relationship. Lots of lovely one-liners to treasure.

bigboy-8 One of the funniest comedies to come across the Atlantic in a long, long time. Maggie is magnificent. This movie will go right over the heads of teenie booopers with less than a high school education, but for the enlightened world this is a gem.

kme-2 This is one of those very droll, and sometimes bizarre British comedies that is absurdly funny. The plot centers around a couple in the days right before Elizabeth II's coronation and the machinations of a social climbing Maggie Smith who equates pork with prestige. She manages to get her henpecked husband (Michael Palin) to kidnap a pig, and well the rest just needs to be experienced. I thought the movie was hilarious, but I have known others who found it just plain ridiculous. Those who disapprove of bathroom humor need not see this one.