The Two Popes (2019)

[OldCorpse]

I’ve avoided this film for the longest time, as I was suspicious of the premise, but I was very pleasantly surprised.

The performances are excellent, especially from Jonathan Pryce - Anthony Hopkins is fine, although I see various mannered tricks he often employs, and he doesn’t do better here than elsewhere. Still even standard Hopkins - as here - is generally excellent. But Pryce is brilliant here.

The direction (Fernando Meirelles) is what really caught me by surprise - really, really good. Such a breath of fresh air in a landscape of so many bad directors. Very ballsy and creative. Excellent use of colors. Outstanding editing.

And the script is quite decent - we’re not talking masterpiece, but it doesn’t embarrass itself and doesn’t condescend to the audience. Unlike the film I tried to watch before it, Trumbo (2015) and I only lasted a few minutes so I won’t bother reviewing it separately - suffice it to say that “Trumbo” is an insult insofar as it takes a great screenwriter’s life and the screenplay is just an atrocity; I bailed when his daughter, sitting on a horse, asks Trumbo if he’s a communist... it’s like something you’d maybe write if you were a completely talentless filmmaker and just starting out; disgusting.

All in all, The Two Popes is one of the best films I’ve seen recently. Highly recommended.

[agcohn]

I watched the first 45 minutes or so of “The Two Popes,” and I really enjoyed it. I need to finish it, and yes Jonathan Pryce is incredibly charismatic in it.

I wouldn’t be so quick to write off “Trumbo” though. I thought that it was great and did a much better job than typical bio pics of not falling into the easy traps of treating the subject’s great accomplishments as inevitable or merely the product of “genius”. Cranston also does a wonderful job of keeping Trumbo relatable despite his eccentricities. It is definitely not an atrocity of screenwriting.

[Liam Hall]

Fascinating story, wonderful locations, generally well-played if a little heavy-handed at times and I know lots of people love it but I really didn't like the look.