You won't be disappointed!

Crappy film

A lot of fun.

If the ambition is to provide two hours of instantly forgettable, popcorn-munching escapism, it succeeds.

Like many viewers, I was so much looking forward to this series which featured acclaimed actors, a highly praised writer and director in Pablo Sorrentino, magnificent locations and the prospect, judging from the title, of a new take on an institution which has existed for almost 2,000 years. What an incredible disappointment it has proved to be.I simply am gobsmacked by the 10 out of 10 gushing reviews which appear on this site. "The Young Pope" is as close to abysmal as one could get. It has no plot. It has no likable or admirable characters. It lacks any resolution to philosophical or religious issues, real or imaginary. The script lacks subtlety; it is not realistic and it is mostly, not rational.I watched all episodes, only in the misguided belief that a series of such promise would surely offer a shred of plot. Perhaps even the central character, His Holiness (of all people) would somehow give us a glimpse of some redeeming features. And I was impressed by the lush and and at times quirky cinematography, and the overall performances of the characters and the costumes and the mischievous soundtrack. But what a pathetic overall production. It has nothing to offer on an emotional or intellectual level and how a second series could even be contemplated is beyond comprehension!Jude Law is impressive as the least likable lead character one could imagine - capricious, irrational, vindictive, unreasonable, cruel and mischievous. His obsession concerning his abandonment by his parents when he was a young boy could not even engender any sympathy. His seeming indifference to the fate of his childhood friend or to the feelings of his 'mother' portrayed by Keating make his character all the more abhorrent.Don't worry if atheist or catholic that you may be offended by attitudes, script or portrayals in this TV series. But DO worry that you may have been sucked in to watching a truly mediocre presentation.

I liked this series from the first minutes. Jude Law is fascinating as Lenny, the first North American Pope, who is strange, charismatic, and arrogant. This is the Pope as a disruptor, and while such stories are often told in terms of opening the church (i.e. Going My Way), this follows the 21st century twist of disruption from the right; the hip, edgy, homophobic, harsh pope. The dialogue is sharp, the characters are detailed and complex, and the cinematography is slick and stylish.The series is also quite odd, often reminding me of Fellini in its surreal touches and the way it keeps viewers off balance. I was surprised that the user reviews I looked at didn't mention this; perhaps people just think the Catholic Church is so inherently weird that they take all the strange elements in stride, causing them to view this as a basic political drama when it strikes me as much more than that.Or did. The above is what I wrote after 4 or 5 episodes. But then I started losing interest. I found Lenny more and more awful, and the series became more about the politics than the weirdness; less Fellini, more House of Cards (which I don't like).Episodes 6 & 7 were such a slog that I simply gave up on the series after that. I just didn't care what happened to any of those people. If only the series had managed to wrap it up in 5 episodes I would give it 9 stars. At this point my 7 stars is probably overly generous.

I love Jude Law, and I was so up for a gripping HBO series addiction, but after the first episode, I was distracted and un-engaged. It might just be me, but every dramatic moment, every bit of profound dialogue followed by thoughtful violin music, landed flat. The new pope is American for some reason - cool. He's vindictive, petty and contrary - got it. He may or may not actually be an atheist sociopath - okay.So? So that's it I guess. Watch a mean pope stomp around the Vatican ordering cherry coke zeros and being rude to people who are forced to be reverent to him. If you like it, if it blows your mind, power to you. I might check out what else is on.

I really think you have to be religious for this show. I started watching expecting some kind of Vatican thriller with political games, maybe with an odd assassination or something. It seemed to go in that direction but that aspect quickly faded in the first two episodes. Then I thought it was an intimate story of the young pope battling himself and his own faith. But that's not really true as the pope is remarkably self-confident and even in the tensest moments, he does exactly as he pleases without the slightest doubt. After that I thought the pope is actually the devil and he is doing really unpopular things, to ruin the church as an institution, so maybe that's why he is blinking at the camera in the beginning of each episode. Yet that turned out to be false. So I thought, maybe there is something coming that will turn the whole thing upside down. But it didn't. Very confusingly, I thought its a superhero show, because the pope does some Marvel type things, but only in the last few episodes.The acting was also not extremely good. While the actors themselves are more than capable of brilliant play, the scenario seemed like it totally limited them. The relationships between characters are supposed to be very emotionally complex, but rarely you get the right feeling of that from the acting. Especially from the main character, its too often that you don't know if he is being sarcastic or genuine (that could be only for me, as I cannot grasp that anyone could consider that religious stuff as serious). After watching the first season, I have no idea what I just watched. I was bored since the beginning but kept watching because everybody said how great it was (I was lucky to be on sick leave so there wasn't much to do anyway). Thats why I think you need to be religious to enjoy this show. You have to be in some way emotionally involved. The pope needs to be an important figure in your mind. Thats how this show fits into some previous ideas that you should already have.