I am now beginning to rent lots of movies and decided to rent "the Pope.." I've heard so many great things about it.
I AM a Mickey Rourke fan - however if I see him in a shitty film - I have no qualms in stressing my opinion.
A Rourke fan or not - this movie is a delight, from the shots of New York City back in 1984 - to Eric Roberts' acting, this movie was great.
I think the major problem most viewers on this site had was Robert's acting, I felt that Roberts overacted sometimes - or perhaps that's what the script called for and if so he gave a memorable performance - almost hilarious at times - the thumb scene is a prime example. I felt that he almost stole the show.. not because I thought his acting was amazing. because it was almost like a parody - I found it strange at times.
Rourke was cool, calm and focused - his acting was great.. and I LOVED his "come over here.." line.. almost seemed sexual to me.. I wondered what he was going to do.
I think everyone who commented on this film is right in saying how incredibly sad it is how Rourke's and Robert's career went down the tubes the way it did. We all have our demons I guess. The focus is to overcome them. Roberts is a B- movie actor. Rourke was never a B-movie actor - he was always a great actor with enormous potential who still has a shot of living up to his potential
he has recently been making a great comeback - "...my best work is still ahead of me" he commented. he came out of the grave. Amen to that!!
The special things about this film are the Acting and the nostalgic feeling one gets when looking at scenes of New York back in 84 (if you are from the east coast and live close to the city or are from the city - you know what I'm talking about)
Amen to the Pope - great little film, one in which I will buy to my collection.
