The Two Popes (2019)
Another story about old men who are filled with regret.
I enjoyed many of the films that came out in 2019, but the more I look back on the films that I saw last year, the more I’m seeing a pattern emerge, especially in those that are critically acclaimed. Many of last year’s films that were most widely celebrated centered on men filled with regret talking about their lives and mistakes. We see that in The Irishman, Dolemite is My Name, Once Upon a Time… in Hollywood, and again in The Two Popes. This is an interesting trend that I’m not quite sure what to do with during an age where we have more female actors, directors, writers, producers, and financiers than ever before. Who knows, maybe next year will be the year of stories of women filled with regret (or maybe some other emotion).
The Two Popes is a film that I’m still not quite sure what to do with. Often my initial reaction of a film isn’t the one that stays with me over time: I need to give a movie time to percolate and then I’ll decide how I feel about it. While watching, I enjoyed it and I learned a lot about things that go on outside of my own little bubble. Because I am not, nor have I ever been, Catholic, I had no idea who the current Pope is and I also had no clue that we have had two Popes in quick succession. I hadn’t realized that the Pope selection process was something that was so widely televised and watched with…
