Review round-up: Here's what people are saying about 'The Young Pope'
The Young Pope is not for everyone, though maybe that's exactly how he likes it.
Paolo Sorrentino's series stars Jude Law as Pope Pius XIII (born Lenny Belardo), a newly elected, intimidating pope.
The mere concept of the show — about about a pope who has been alive for fewer years than other popes — inspired tons of memes on Twitter.
But critics were not as amused as the meme creators.
Here's what some critics had to say about the show, which debuts on HBO on Jan. 15.
The New York Times
"Beautiful and ridiculous."
That's how critic James Poniewozik's headline describes the show as a whole.
"The creator and director Paolo Sorrentino shoots the scene stunningly," Poniewozik explains. "Pius is backlit, and appears only as a furious shadow on a balcony. Mr. Sorrentino, a visual maximalist who explored Italian politics in the film 'Il Divo,' seems to have set up a drama of church maneuverings and of finding God through isolation."
However, the show has a lot of low moments too.
"When The Young Pope is bad, it’s epically so — laughable, with histrionics and mustache-twirling and bombastic set pieces," he wrote. "It’s weakest the closer it sticks to its narrative of church intrigue."
The Guardian
Rebecca Nicholson was a fan of the show, calling it "stunning, thoughtful and visually arresting."
"It could have been overwhelmed by its splashy premise: Jude Law is Lenny Belardo, now Pius XIII, an ultra-conservative, manipulative new American pontiff," Nicholson wrote. "He has serious doubts about whether he believes in God, drinks Cherry Coke Zero for breakfast and smokes more than the cast of Mad Men combined. But The Young Pope was stunning, thoughtful and dreamlike, and even though key players have been strategically shifted to dioceses around the globe, its well-earned second series can’t come soon enough."
USA Today
"Like the Vatican itself, Pope is beautiful, lush and carefully, formally composed," Robert Blanco writes. "It’s also oddly airless and cold, more a series of striking pictures than a living and breathing slice of life, one that leaves you with no way in and little reason to care. Style doesn't just trump substance here; it's the only substance The Young Pope has. And that seems wrong."
Vulture
Matt Zoller calls the show "compelling but strange."
"What, exactly, are we looking at?" Zoller writes. "This is not a series where you can immediately tell why the storyteller felt that he had to tell this particular story. The Young Pope is less urgent and focused than contemplative and playful. The first three episodes amount to seductively photographed throat clearing. The sense of humor ranges from self-deprecating (“I’m not profound, I’m presumptuous,” says Pius) to goofy (one episode begins with a man doting on a sheep that he believes is the reincarnation of the Virgin Mary). And it rarely finds cinematic ways to convey the spiritual longing and/or torment expressed by its various characters, preferring instead to address these matters and others in ruminative dialogue. The tone and pace are all over the map."
Variety
Maureen Ryan said the show is certainly timely, given Brexit and the 2016 Election, during which Donald Trump became America's president-elect.
"Radical unpredictability is terrifying when it’s the hallmark of a real world leader who possesses nuclear launch codes, but it’s mesmerizing in the hands of Sorrentino, Law, and the rest of this show’s stellar cast," she writes. "If nothing else, The Young Pope is a refreshing reminder that playfulness and profundity need not be mutually exclusive; this spectacular-looking drama has an affinity for surreal yet effective juxtapositions, and the directors’ approach to composition is both poetic and painterly. Its narrative is not especially concerned with linearity and structural tidiness, but no matter. The spontaneity rumbling through The Young Pope illuminates the unruly possibilities of human and spiritual connection, and its sly, deadpan wit is often a delight. (One memorable scene of Pius donning his most spectacular papal robes features LMFAO’s 'Sexy and I Know It' on the soundtrack.)"
Saba was a Los Angeles-based reporter who covers all things digital entertainment, including YouTube, streaming services and digital influencers. Prior to that, she spent two years at the Los Angeles Times covering entertainment for the Calendar and Company Town sections. Saba grew up in Santa Monica and graduated from Boston University with a B.S. in journalism and B.A. in political science. When not reporting, she is usually binge watching shows online or looking for new coffee shops to frequent.
