Getting In The Vote - - Conclave (2024, USA/UK, Color, 120 min)

Recommended. The strength of Edward Berger’s (All Quiet on the Western Front) new Vatican procedural lies in its principal players. If you place Stanley Tucci (The Devil Wears Prada), John Lithgow (Intersteller), and Isabella Rosellini (Big Night) in the bullpen and with Ralph Fiennes (The English Patient) as your starting pitcher, you’re going to win the World Series. The story is a little dodgy, with more twists and turns than a Greg Maddow two-seamer. And the ending was odd but does have some ecclesiastical value . . . in a queer sort of way. Perhaps the reveal could be approached with more finesse. But given that Conclave is not a documentary, I greatly enjoyed it. The score (Volker Bertelmann, All Quiet on the Western Front) also lacked subtlety. But the movie’s production director, Suzie Davies (Saltburn), deserves the biggest Oscar for recreating the Sistine Chapel on the Cinecittà backlot. Michealangelo would be flabbergasted.