The Man from Rome

This film tries to blend religion, mystery, and thriller elements, but the execution is poor. The story never really grips, the characters are underdeveloped, and the acting feels uninspired. Instead of being suspenseful, it ends up dull and forgettable.

It's the kind of film that could have worked with better writing and direction, but as it stands, it's a waste of potential.

I was hoping this film would be more action/horror based than cerebral.. Sadly it was more the latter. The action scenes were pretty naff to be honest and really needed beefing up to give the whole film more bite. The long periods of relative inactivity saw some reasonable acting.

Got to admit i have a soft spot for these Euro collaborations, they nearly wlays end up being a mixed bag.

Richard Armitage is pretty comvincing as a Bible Bond, it's just a shame he didn't flex his muscles enough or, like i said previously, be hamstrung by some extremely ropey fight choreography.

All in it's watchable, i gave it a generous 6 but it's more like a 5, a few more better choreographed fights and it would be a solid 6 IMHO.

IN A NUTSHELL: The story is about a computer hacker who penetrates Vatican security and sends an urgent, anonymous plea to the pope. Handsome Father Quart of the church's Institute of External Affairs, an arm of the Vatican Intelligence, is dispatched to investigate. The message of the hacker concerns a crumbling 17th century Baroque church in the heart of Seville that apparently "kills to defend itself." The movie is based on the 1995 novel by Spanish writer Arturo Perez-Reverte called "La Piel del Tambor", which means "the skin of the drum." The film was directed by Sergio Dow. Writing credits go to Adrian Bol, Beth Bollinger, and Gretchen Cowan.

The movie is set in Spain and uses many Spanish actors; however, the movie is in English.

THINGS I LIKED: Some of the stand-out cast members include Richard Armitage, Paul Guilfoyle, Amaia Salamanca, Alicia Borrachero, Franco Nero, Fionnula Flanagan, Carlos Cuevas.

The opening scene was perfect.

The movie is set in Spain. I lived in Spain twice for a couple of years and loved it! One of the cities I visited was Sevilla, so I loved seeing it in the movie! We get to see a typical Spanish religious procession, a flamenco show.

The cinematography is beautiful.

The movie was released in Spain in October 2022, and now released in the USA in 2023.

The movie is filmed in Spanish but dubbed in English.

Fantastic close-ups.

We get to see some gorgeous Catholic churches and interiors in Spain and Italy. We even get to visit the Vatican. I'm not Catholic, but I absolutely respect all religions and appreciate their buildings and beautiful artwork.

Lovely music.

Some of the characters are instantly likeable like those played by Richard Armitage, Alicia Borrachero, and Carlos Cuevas.

Is it just me or do you also think Victor Mallarino looks a little bit like a Spanish Ray Romano?

The ending is satisfying for many reasons: we learn the truth, loose ends are tied up, and we learn more about faith.

THINGS I DIDN'T LIKE: Sometimes, it's hard to understand what people were saying.

There are a lot of things to read on the screen that are written in Spanish with no subtitles. Most of the time, the words aren't crucial to the story.

The fight scenes aren't particularly creative.

TIPS FOR PARENTS: We see several dead bodies, lying in a pool of blood.

Profanity, including F-bombs.

Some violence with weapons, as well as hand-to-hand combat.

We see a man in the shower (private parts are not seen) A priest kisses a woman.

We see some murders.

Priests fight and kill others.

!

The locations in Rome, Italy and Sevilla, Spain are beautiful along with many of the buildings they use. It has some well known actors like Richard Armitage, Paul Guilfoyle, Franco Nero and Fionnula Flanagan and Carlos. Cuevas, the rest of the cast were ok.

The script is a mess, too many subplots, boring main plot and boring dialog. Reminded me of 1950s European films that depended on beautiful settings because the script was garbage. Writers, directors and producers think using beautiful filming locations will make up for a poor script, it doesn't. Kissing a bishop, archbishop, cardinal, pope's ring hasn't existed for many decades, shows that the writer didn't research it. I wonder sometimes if these types of scripts are written over a booze or drug filled weekend.

Well, I sat down to watch this with fairly low expectations, given some of the reviews I had seen from various media outlets. However, I was pleasantly surprised to find that it was a lot more watchable and interesting than I expected.

Richard Armitage is always good value and he has plenty of charisma onscreen. The supporting cast did a good job, too. Sure, the script was a bit clunky in places, but the plot was quite interesting and it moved at a decent pace.

The locations in Seville and Rome were beautifully shot. The natural light made them look stunning, actually.

So, don't take all the bad reviews at face value. It's not a great movie, but it's quite good and certainly not a waste of your time to watch it.