geezer cinema: conclave (edward berger, 2024)

Conclave is receiving a lot of Oscar buzz. It's already picked up a handful of awards on the festival circuit, with the acting in particular getting notice ... an ensemble award at Palm Springs, individual honors to Ralph Fiennes at Santa Barbara. Conclave is also the kind of serious drama that might seem particularly respectable come Oscars time ... I don't think it's better than movies such as My Old Ass, Love Lies Bleeding, or The Beekeeper with Jason Statham, but Conclave sounds like an Oscar movie.

And as prestigious Oscar movies go, Conclave is pretty good. The acting is indeed strong, and the film looks great, with what looks to my clueless eyes to be a remarkable recreation of the Sistine Chapel at Cinecittà Studios.

But the plot itself is too mundane for such grandiose possibilities. Conclave is in essence a mystery story about the politics underlying the selection of a new Pope, which sounds engrossing. But the film relies on stock narrative devices, such as the withholding of information until it will have the maximum impact on the audience, and the ways in which the various Cardinals fit into standard stereotypical roles: the devious one, the ambitious one, the humble one, and the unknown late-arriving one. The pieces fit together well enough to be noticeable, and I wanted to be more surprised. The final revelation also felt tacked on, as if to prove that the story wasn't as ordinary as we might have thought.

Conclave is not as bad as it might sound. It isn't boring, the acting draws you in, and even stock plot turns often work. When I say it's no better than My Old Ass, I don't mean it's worse. But it's got prestige, and that only goes so far.