EJ

The fashioning of a screenplay involving a relationship so complex and nuanced as Pope Benedict and Pope Francis into a digestible, entertaining form is nothing less than masterful. Filtering the essence of each man and their making into interacting, sometime diagonally opposed composites beautifully reveals two themes, the latter of which ultimately prevails; that they are human, and that they love. As they drift toward one, they often stray from the other, as us normal humans are wont to do. However, unlike the rest of us, sublimation of pride led them each to a path of acceptance and understanding, agreeing to disagree if you will; and that ideal provides the pavers to the highest standard: Love. That they each recognize love as the dominant trait in the other is a recipe for the best kind of outcome. Sure, this is just a movie. But in this case, let us hope that life imitates art.