The Pope Must Die

.... was the tagline for this movie, and if you want something to take seriously, this ain't it.

Some of the voters and commenters for this movie appear to belong to those particular group of planet-dwellers for whom everything needs a reason, and to whom every joke needs to be explained in detail, so that they can see why they should find it funny.

Coltrane, Edmondson, Lom, Rocco, and Sessions all give creditable if unchallenging performances using a script that is light-hearted without being offensive and a plot that is interesting without being stretching. The movie has a laugh at itself, it's subject, the actors, and also the viewers, some of whom obviously take life and movies far too seriously. IT'S ENTERTAINMENT, FOR CRYING OUT LOUD!!!

Oh, by the way I really enjoyed the movie - helped me to take my life off the hook for 90 minutes.

I heard the story of them changing the title of this movie and without even seeing it, I was very upset that they would give into pressure from a church and change the name. After seeing the movie, it's clear that if you have a problem with the title, you are a humorless turd.It's funny that the church never complained about the mob picking the Pope. Starring Robbie Coltrane (Hagrid from Harry Potter) and Beverly D'Angelo and written by Peter Richardson(the man behind The Comic Strip Presents), this movie is hilarious and action packed. The mob is picking the new Pope and a hard of hearing clerk(Adrian Edmondson,Vyvyan from The Young Ones)hears the name wrong and a guitar playing priest from an orphanage becomes the new Pope. The only way to get rid of him is to kill him. Wackiness ensues. This is a must see.

So goes this irreverent, and often hilarious "black comedy." The film does have several problems, starting with the name change from "The Pope Must Die", to "The Pope Must Diet." The movie has nothing to do with diets, but the Mob is trying to kill the Pope. Performances are uneven, from Robbie Coltrane being an acceptable totally unqualified Pope, to brilliant characterizations of unscrupulous Vatican Clergy, by Paul Bartel and Alex Rocco. That's in addition to appearances by Beverly D'Angelo and Herbert Lom. The editing is somewhat choppy, and the violence comes and goes, however overall the film succeeds as entertainment, mostly due to the inventive script, and class actors. No religious apologies are necessary, for this outrageous and hilarious comedy. MERK

I don't normally like Peter Richardson's Comic Strip films, so why I watched this I don't know. However, it was much better than I expected, and, despite a few expletives, I thought it quite subtle in places. It's not very original in plot (which takes in rather too much), but the cast is quite good (Coltrane, Lom, Rocco), and the only people who might object are those who think it's anti-religious, which I feel it turns out not to be. I'm not a crackpot or a religious fanatic, although I don't think the film would appeal to the latter group !

I recently hired a VHS of the Comic Strip feature film "The Pope Must Die" (starring Robbie Coltrane), which unapologetically presents the premise that the Vatican is run by dolts and scheming money-grabbing opportunists, some of whom are backed by the mafia.

The plot revolves around the consequences of a clerical error which caused a totally incorruptible and highly compassionate priest to be elected as Pope. When the Pope attempts to give all the Vatican's riches to help the poor, his fate is sealed. This film may be a comedy - but it's easy to suspect that there are large elements of truth involved. That being said - there is no attempt by the film-makers to portray the rank and file clergy as anything less than good people doing their charitable best in the world.

I am amazed at the convincing (to my untravelled eye) locations that were secured by the producers for the interior shots.

Paul Bartel turns in one of his best performances - on par with Robbie Coltrane. It's not a perfect script or plot, but the errors are few and this film has plenty of heart.