The Pope Must Diet *** (1991, Robbie Coltrane, Adrian Edmondson, Paul Bartel, Herbert Lom, Alex Rocco) – Classic Movie Review 9852

When an imperfect, unqualified, unsuitable priest (Robbie Coltrane) is mistakenly elected Pope after a clerk mishears the name, he starts to uncover a web of corruption in the Vatican, in director Peter Richardson’s uneven but mostly entertaining 1991 British farcical comedy The Pope Must Die.

Engaging Coltrane is good fun as he takes on the bad guys with the essential knowledge for any Pope: a grounding in car mechanics and the electric guitar.

It helps that there is energetic support from an impressive cast, especially from Herbert Lom as a gangster called Vittorio Corelli and Alex Rocco as a cardinal. It is a satisfactory wacky alternative comedy from Peter Richardson in the vein of his The Comic Strip Presents… TV series.

It was hastily retitled The Pope Must Diet after a row over the title in America.

Also in the cast are Beverly D’Angelo, Paul Bartel. Balthazar Getty, William Hootkins, Robert Stephens, Annette Crosbie, Steve O’Donnell, John Sessions, Salvatore Cascio, Peter Richardson, Ernest Clark, Jeff Beck, Niall Buggy, and Ralph Brown.

The Pope Must Diet [The Pope Must Diet] is directed by Peter Richardson, runs 99 minutes, is made by Michael White Productions, Palace Pictures, Miramax, British Screen Productions, Channel Four Films and 20th Century Fox, is released by Palace Pictures (1991) (UK) and Miramax (1991) (US), is written by Peter Richardson and Pete Richens, is shot by Frank Gell, is produced by Nik Powell (executive producer), Bob Weinstein (executive producer), Harvey Weinstein (executive producer), Michael White (executive producer), Stephen Woolley and Neville Cawas Bardoliwalla, is scored by Anne Dudley and Jeff Beck, and is designed by John Ebden.

Salvatore Cascio is the boy from Cinema Paradiso.

© Derek Winnert 2020 Classic Movie Review 9852

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