CONCLAVE

Robert Harris doesn't do things by halves; he writes far-fetched thrillers and none more far-fetched than "Conclave" so anyone who goes to see the film version expecting to see a documentary-like account of how the Catholic Church elects a pope are in for a shock. "Conclave" is a melodramatic political thriller with the most ridiculous plot anyone could concoct. It's entertaining but in a very bad movie kind of way with more twists than a sailor's knot, each one sillier than the one before with a punchline that would be laugh-out-loud funny if it weren't in such questionable taste.

The director of this nonsense is Edward Berger who also made the Oscar-laden and overrated "All Quiet on the Western Front" and to be fair he does bring a certain style to the material. It's also quite well acted by a cast that's far too good for the script they've been saddled with. Ralph Fiennes brings his usual gravitas to the presiding Cardinal Lawrence while, once again, Stanley Tucci steals the movie from his co-stars. If you're Catholic and take any of this rubbish as fact you'll probably run from the Church and set up your own religion but anyone with a modicum of intelligence should see through it twenty minutes in.