Hopkins and Pryce enliven contrived papal buddy film
I’d love to live in a world where the collective citizenry could agree on a set of facts, historical or present-day, to guide our way forward. I’d love to, and that would in no way impede my enjoyment of factadjacent, largely bogus charmers such as “The Two Popes,” the latest Netflix title deigning to open in a few theaters here and there prior to its Dec. 20 streaming premiere.
With a little less snazz than usual, Fernando Meirelles (“City of God,” “The Constant Gardener”) nonetheless directs the daylights out of this buddypope vehicle for two skillful performers. Anthony Hopkins plays Benedict XVI, aka Joseph Ratzinger; as the more progressive, street-level Cardinal
Jorge Mario Bergoglio Jonathan Pryce lends just enough selfeffacing wit to make Bergoglio interesting as well as admirable.
It opens in one key, shifts to another, and returns to a graver key for a somewhat wobbly third act. In 2005, Bergoglio and Ratzinger finish second and first, respectively, in the papal enclave. Aside from later flashbacks to Argentina, detailing Bergoglio’s ethically compromised involvement in the 1970s “dirty wars” waged by the military dictatorship, most of “The Two Popes” unfolds in 2012.
A clandestine meeting between Pope Benedict XVI and
Cardinal Bergoglio likely never happened. This does not prevent screenwriter Anthony McCarten from imagining it had. With the Catholic Church rocked by clergy abuse scandals and a badly tarnished image, the pope has lost his way, and his stamina. Bergoglio represents a theological opponent, restless with hidebound tradition and the Vatican’s devotion to secrecy. In “The Two Popes” Benedict summons Bergoglio to Italy to sell him on the idea of taking over the job.
The selling point of the movie, meantime, lies with the considerable satisfaction of seeing two wily veterans have at it. The material’s easily digestible (at least until the unwieldly Argentina flashbacks commence), quippy and bright. Yes, it’s theology lite. Yes, it’s contrived. Yes, it’s largely fictional. Welcome to the movies! “The Two Popes” works as a film about unlikely friendship between two men of real and intriguing contrasts. Bergoglio introduces Ratzinger to the pleasures of soccer (aka football); Ratzinger quietly regales Bergoglio with his piano interludes. The film hums along.
While Meirelles urges McCarten’s script toward grander ambitions, there’s only so much heft a genial two-hander can manage. From “Darkest Hour” (good), “The Theory of Everything” (quite good), “Bohemian Rhapsody” (bad but a smash) to “The Two Popes,” McCarten has become the Archbishop of Biopic. It’s reassuring to see Hopkins return to form, after several years of authoritative coasting. As for Pryce, his affinity for morally comprised men of high achievement (“The Wife,” etc. ) keeps his portrayal of the film’s clear moral paragon from hardening into sainthood.