Conclave

“The premise itself is solid enough to make one wonder what kinds of interesting dramatic builds someone with Berger’s expertise and fantastic production team can conjure up, but the concept reaches well outside of any realm of proper suspense and tension and begins to fall all over itself far too early in the film. Just when opportunities to dig itself out of its own hole becomes plausible, it goes from 10 to 11 in its almost farcical take on what goes on behind closed doors during the election of a new pope.

“Part of the reason this film gets in its own way is that its obsession with trying to backslap American politics is such an easy thing to pick up on. It sometimes takes away from an actual papal conclave drama. At some point, one just has to question why Berger just doesn’t make a movie on the subject he actually wants it to be about. The only answer this viewer can arrive at is that it might be more difficult for him and the production team to make the copious amount of clumsy strikes at the Catholic Church if it were the other way around.

“The film’s downsides are not so much a matter of its politics as it is in the mishandling of said material. The actors in the film give it their all, and there are no complaints about that. The scenarios they are given and the ‘we want you to preach to the audience, but could you make it seem like you’re not preaching because, after all, we’re tearing down those who preach’ approach is what the performers are up against.

“What can save a film that overreaches then? Surely a proper payoff for all of the suspense and backdoor dealings, right? Wrong. Before the cat is inevitably out of the bag and leaked all over social media about what all occurs during any of the variety of twists, there is no denying the overwhelming responses of first-time audiences have shifted from ‘you can’t be serious?’ to ‘oh, you are serious’ to ‘am I supposed to be angry or is this just a straight up laughable satire now?’ all within a mere second or two of said reveals. Perhaps the goal all along was just to hear what a simultaneous blend of ‘oh my,’ ‘hurrah,’ ‘hear hear,’ and ‘you can’t be serious, lmao’ all sounds like as one collective chorus.

“2 CATS OUT OF 5 (all for production value and solid performances)”

Diane says: “Director Edward Berger (ALL QUIET ON THE WESTERN FRONT) has made Robert Harris’ novel about the election of a new pope into a star-studded thriller (cue soundtrack of tense strings). The reluctant dean of the cardinals (Ralph Fiennes, fine) can’t resist investigating some of the top contenders, both liberal and conservative. As their secrets come out, we are privy to examples of the eternal crises of the Roman Catholic Church. It also plays as a commentary on American politics.