We Have a Pope
Metascore
64 out of 100

Generally favorable reviews - based on 25 Critics

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 16 out of 25
  2. Mixed: 9 out of 25
  3. Negative: 0 out of 25
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  1. The New York Times
    Reviewed by: Manohla Dargis
    Apr 5, 2012
    90
    Mr. Moretti finds broad comedy in the antics of some clerics, who can seem as sweet as children, but in Melville there is pathos and there is tragedy, and not his alone.
  2. Washington Post
    Reviewed by: Michael O'Sullivan
    May 3, 2012
    88
    By turns sweet, sad, funny and poignant, We Have a Pope is the story of a man who doesn't want to be God's representative on Earth.
  3. Philadelphia Inquirer
    Reviewed by: Steven Rea
    May 3, 2012
    88
    It's more of a character study, insightful and nuanced, about a man grappling with a profound sense of inadequacy, questioning himself. In many ways, We Have a Pope recalls last year's Oscar winner, "The King's Speech": Someone who doesn't feel up to the job fate has handed him, and then struggling to come to terms with it.
  4. Chicago Sun-Times
    Reviewed by: Roger Ebert
    Apr 25, 2012
    88
    There are elements of comedy here, and some very low-key slapstick, but the film is respectful to the Catholic Church and the papacy and takes no cheap shots.
  5. NPR
    Reviewed by: Mark Jenkins
    Apr 6, 2012
    85
    We Have a Pope is not the filmmaker's next assault on a Roman patriarch. It's a half-sweet, half-rueful existential drama in which the satire comes secondary.

User Reviews

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User Score
6.3 out of 10

Generally favorable reviews- based on 6 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 1 out of 3
  2. Mixed: 1 out of 3
  3. Negative: 1 out of 3
  1. jeremyp
    5
    What starts off as a good idea falls apart in the second half. If it's going to be a comedy, then let's make it droll, but all they manage is a dragged out farce made worse with an endless one joke volleyball game. Then they make the pope out to be a dimwit surrounded by a herd of them. Bad writing, ludicrous plot, weak characters. Shame, it could have been good in the right hands.… Full Review »
  2. Kissellian
    3
    I was raised Catholic, so when I sat down to watch We Have a Pope, I suspected the critics who had been lukewarm to this movie just didn't get it. Sometimes high hopes lead to poor reactions, and that may be why I found We Have a Pope to be the most disappointing movie I'd seen during 2012. On the whole it wasn't funny enough to be a comedy and neither profound or complexly human enough to be a good drama.

    The basic plot starts with a papal election where it is clear that none of the eligible cardinals really want the job. Then a cardinal who wasn't considered favored is elected. At first he goes along with this, but right before his elevation is announced, he balks. Because the new pope hasn't officially introduced himself to the people, no one else can do it and all of the cardinals must remain shut in the Vatican until he changes his mind.

    All of this is fodder for some hilarious moments or profound statements about faith and human psychology and power. However, We Have a Pope wastes all of these opportunities by shying away from all the difficult questions this situation calls up. The new pope doesn't doubt his faith and never manages to articulate a reason for his refusal more complex than he's not up to the job. The movie meanders along to an ending which is only shocking in that it took two hours to arrive at the place we had been fifteen minutes in. The only bright spot in this slog is an intramural volleyball game between cardinals from different geographic regions. Spoiler: Oceania scores a point!    … Full Review »
  3. Dudlei
    10
    Having been born and raised in Brazil, perhaps the world's most Catholic country, movies that depict the Catholic church are usually biased. They often portray Catholic priests as either extremely perfect or extremly evil. In "We Have a Pope", however, no single character is either way. Every character is perfectly human. The Cardinals are portrayed as any other professional is. Everyone loves the religious calling, but some tend to be extremely obedient whereas others tend to be more relaxed; some find their profession revigorating, whereas others find it dull sometimes. And, this is true of any job: no matter where one works at, people are human to like or dislike the job sometimes. And perhaps the most human character in the movie is the protagonist, the elected Pope who is too afraid to accept his new calling. He comes to a point in life where he realizes that there are unfulfiled dreams in his life that he wishes to accomplish; there are things he has never experienced before and that make him see life in a whole new manner. And, again, that is true of many of us. We might reach a point in our life when we look back and wonder if that is the career or the life we really wanted for ourselves.
    In the end, it is not a movie about a pope or a priest, but rather, a movie about us, humans, trying to better understand our deep fears, desires and convictions.    … Full Review »
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