At the movies....

Habemus Papam (We Have a Pope).  Seen at TIFF Lightbox in Toronto.

A film by  Nanni Moretti, We Have a Pope is at times sweet, at times sad, and at times (too few) hilarious, but overall, but in my view it fails overall. 

This is story of a shy, retiring and low-profile cardinal (played brilliantly by Michel Piccoli) who is unexpectedly elected as pope.  He panics and runs away, and the rest alternates between what's happening at the Vatican while the search is on, and what's happening with the new pope as he wanders the city.

I enjoyed the pomp and pageantry of the Vatican as they bury the old pope and elect a new one, the hilarious scene where they bring in a shrink who must try to work in front of the entire school of cardinals, and there are a few other tidbits. But this is a movie that doesn't seem to have figured out what it wants to be... serious, sweet, absurd, almost Felliniesque,  it just jumps all over the place and became frustrating and boring. 

Too bad, it had potential to be much more.

I give it a 2 out of 5 -- save your money, watch it when it comes out on the Movie Network.