SnoopyStyle The cardinals have gathered in the conclave in Rome to elect a new Pope. Everyone is afraid to get the job. Cardinal Melville is elected. As the faithful gathered outside waiting for the announcement, Melville breaks down on the way to the balcony. The cardinals can't leave until the announcement and the public cannot be informed without Melville. They reluctantly bring in psychoanalyst Professor Brezzi to treat the new Pope. Brezzi is surprised that he is also forced to stay inside isolated from the world and his family. Brezzli's wife is also a psychoanalyst and Melville is secreted to be treated by her. He manages to escape from his escorts and roam the streets of Rome.I don't think more sophisticated comedies translate well between different languages and cultures. There is an interior ingrainness of the religious world that I'm lacking. There is a bit of drama as Melville's interior conflict goes on. It would have been interesting to have an outsider or a media person investigating the situation and happens upon the cardinal on the loose. I can see the attempt at humor but it doesn't strike me as funny.

crottymcnaughty I am a Catholic and this film breaks my heart for the lack in respect some people can have towards a faithful religion such as the Catholic Church. The film leaves no message of hope and contains varied and mixed portrayals of the Catholic Church. In the history of the Church, it has been necessary to use secrecy within its walls, just as most nations do, but to suggest that Cardinals and leaders are simply blind sheep, being strung along by their faith without reason is enough to be mad at this film. The Church leaders are not whimsical or frivolous in nature. Nor are they weak minded, as the film suggests. They may be filled with humility, but they are not weak. Nanni Moretti is bold for making this film. He does, to some extent, capture the grandeur and solemnity of the Vatican and its practices, but then he destroys it by making the cardinals looks like a bunch of drug dependent old fools. I strongly suggest looking else where for a cheap laugh because the implications the director wants to convey weaken the Church, her honor, and the ability she has to continue to be one of the remaining moral voices this world still has. Also, the ending is, as wikipedia points out, a big let down.

jmc4769 "We Have a Pope" was advertised as a comedy, but it's really more of a drama with a few lighthearted moments. I was looking forward to this movie after seeing the trailer, which made it seem like a laugh-out-loud comedy ("hilarious" according to a Huffington Post critic quoted in the trailer). When the movie started, though, I was thinking, "Wow, this is a slow start for a comedy." Minute after long minute of cardinals walking through the Vatican and chanting as they prepare to elect a Pope. Unfortunately, this snooze-inducing pace doesn't pick up much as the movie progresses.Oh yes, the premise is intriguing: The elected Pope has a crisis of confidence at the last minute and decides that he can't go through with it. He slips away from his handlers and wanders the city, trying to resolve his dilemma. But surprisingly, given a storyline with so many interesting possibilities, the script flounders at this point. The Pope wanders from place to place, never meeting anyone we care about, never having a meaningful conversation. He never learns anything, never resolves anything.Meanwhile, back at the Vatican, the cardinals organize a volleyball tournament. (What the heck?) The director apparently thinks the idea of cardinals playing volleyball is so amusing that he even shows them in sports-movie slow motion. Yawn. As boring as the Pope's adventures are, this ball game is even more boring.About two-thirds of the way through the movie, we finally get a hint of an interesting subplot. The cardinals discuss the odds published in the local paper regarding each of their chances of being elected. It turns out that the Pope was selected despite long odds. But alas, the whole matter is quickly forgotten. "We Have a Pope" has very little character development, a skeleton plot, only two or three funny lines, and a disappointing ending. I can't recommend it.

rossangela ***this review may contain spoilers*** The other reviewers, in my opinion, focus too much on the minutiae of this story. I must admit my first reaction to the film is that it lacked coherence and punch. However, in the middle of the night, awakening with my own "road to Damascus" (as one reviewer said)regarding this film, I realized that the story elements served to make the statement that the authority and credibility of the Catholic Church in the 21st century is about to undergo a complete transformation, if not collapse. With all the sexual abuse scandals worldwide, the lack of appropriate consequences for the bishops and cardinals who protected those offending priests (see Cardinal Bernard Law, who was given an important position in Rome, after leaving Boston in disgrace), and the appalling treatment of and attitudes towards women all point to an institution that can only survive as long as a belief in the concept that the pope is "god's representative on earth" prevails. Within the context of this film we see that the newly elected pope is just a human being like any of us, and maybe only men, not god, have chosen him to lead. When the infallibility of the pope is called into question, then the whole thing begins to unravel. This belief in the pope's infallibility is what the authority of the Catholic Church rests upon. If he's just another guy, does he have the moral authority to make pronouncements about gay marriage, women as priests, celibacy of priests, birth control, and so many other controversial issues. At the end of the film, when Melville finally leaves, the cardinals are completely aghast, showing absolute shock in their reactions, covering their mouths in horror, realizing that their world is about to drastically change. It is no longer "business as usual." I think Moretti knew that this is exactly the message he was unleashing with this film. And to him, I say Bravo!! By the way, I was raised Catholic, have a sister who is a nun, and I attended a Jesuit university, until I was told upon entering a pre-law class on the first day of school that "all you women -- you go to the back of the room. You get a C for the term." There are many, many good people who follow the Catholic faith. But I am referring to the male hierarchy which, since the beginnings of the church, have used all kinds of means to grasp and stay in power. This film takes a little of that power away from them.