Monsignor

R

1982

2 hr. 2 min.

Drama

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0%

7 Reviews

Tomatometer

17%

50+ Ratings

Audience Score

Ambitious priest John Flaherty (Christopher Reeve) is thrilled to have received a post at the Vatican, but arrives to find the church in financial disarray. Undaunted, he partners with the local Mafia to sell cigarettes on the black market. The plan works well enough that his superiors turn a blind eye, and Flaherty is emboldened to take even greater risks. Attracted to a postulant nun named Clara (Geneviève Bujold), he disguises himself as an army officer in order to seduce her.

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Joseph L

One of the dullest movies I have ever sat theough.

Rated 1 out of 5 stars

09/16/23

Full Review

Victor O

For the longest time, I've seen Christopher Reeve's filmography and have considered watching him in something other than Superman, but I just refused to. But knowing more about him now, his death and other less famous turns I wanted to see if he was good in any of them. But I've heard controversy abounded in this movie, this is Hollywood, and Hollywood is viciously anti-religion. 1940s-1970s. Father John Flaherty has just been ordained as a priest and is sent as a military chaplain for the US Army in World War II. Having distinguished himself on the battlefield, with friends in high places, he is then brought out of the war into the safety and comfort of the Holy See. His education in finance grants him the job as an overseer of the Vatican's accounts and with the war, those accounts aren't doing well. From here the Father learns that the US army has dealings with the Mafia and intends to fix the Vatican's economic troubles with the black market. Having risen to the rank of Monsignor he travels further down a murky path against his faith by taking a mistress, which ends terribly. But it is decades later when his creation of a bank for the Vatican creates a scandal that is resolved through blood and controversy. I had heard about the controversy and was prepared for it, but it still troubled me when I finally saw this movie. But what can you expect from a book written by an iconoclast and adapted by Hollywood screenwriters? Christopher Reeve is a splendid actor, playing a complicated role of a priest driven by passion and ambition, something a man of the cloth should forsake, yet still troubled by guilt in violating his vows. It would have been a copout to make him the villain of the story, and it's more than acceptable that wasn't the result. Most of the events are loosely based on history but not all of it. The romance in this story was so out of place that it never should have been in the movie. Everything else is fine but it could have been better with better writing and editing.

Rated 3 out of 5 stars

07/31/23

Full Review

Audience Member

Este es un filme que ha sufrido duramente con la crítica, pero creo que es porque sin tapujos muestra una historia que no necesariamente es basada en hechos reales pero que es algo que perfectamente pudo haber sucedido. Christopher Reeve (Superman) interpreta aquí a un joven capellán de un escuadrón militar en medio de la Segunda Guerra Mundial que al tomar la decisión de disparar contra soldados Nazis que iban a masacrar a los soldados aliados heridos de su escuadrón, es trasladado al Vaticano para ocultarlo de la prensa y evitar que el Tercer Reich reconsidere la inmunidad que han ostentado hasta ese momento los capellanes en el campo de batalla. Una vez en el Vaticano, el personaje de Reeve pronto se da cuenta del juego de poderes que se juega en la sede de la fé católica en donde dos cardenales pugnan por ser el próximo papa, asímismo se da cuenta del problema de finanzas que sufre el Vaticano ya que aunque los Nazis no invaden dicho lugar, sí realizan bloqueos de las contribuciones de las iglesias del mundo. Reeve, que pronto queda bajo la protección de uno de los cardenales influyentes, le expone a éste una idea de utlizar los cigarrillos que siguen recibiendo para donar a los soldados, pero vendiéndoselos a la Mafia Italiana para que ellos los negocien en el mercado negro. La idea es exitosa y Reeve pronto asciende al grado de monseñor, pero medio de esto, tendrá una prueba de fé al conocer el amor en una joven novicia que ignora que él es parte del clero, y la traición de su mejor amigo, el soldado que lo conectó con la mafia, que malversa fondos de dichos negocios. No hagan caso de las malas críticas y si pueden vean este excelente filme. Altamente recomendada.

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

02/14/23

Full Review

ashley h

Monsignor is an okay film. I thought the actors did what they could with the script that was given. I thought the film was boring. I would not recommend this movie.

Rated 1.5 out of 5 stars

03/31/23

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Frank Perry

Director

Christopher Reeve

Father John Flaherty

Geneviève Bujold

Clara

Fernando Rey

Cardinal Santoni

Jason Miller

Don Vito Appolini

Joe Cortese

Ludovico "Lodo" Varese

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Bob Thomas

Associated Press

[A] mean-spirited film that might be considered sacrilegious were it not so ludicrous.

Nov 12, 2018

Full Review

Variety Staff

Variety

Lots of potential for a rare, absorbing, behind-the-scenes look at the Vatican is totally blown.

Oct 30, 2007

Full Review

Time Out

Mortal sins, true confessions, purple stuff.

Jun 24, 2006

Full Review

Diego Galán

El Pais (Spain)

The private melodrama overpowers objective reality. [Full Review in Spanish]

Aug 27, 2019

Full Review

TV Guide

This wretched melodrama, set against a backdrop of altars, papal blessings, and promiscuous priests, has all the content of an empty chalice.

Rated: 0/4

Oct 30, 2007

Full Review

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Synopsis

Ambitious priest John Flaherty (Christopher Reeve) is thrilled to have received a post at the Vatican, but arrives to find the church in financial disarray. Undaunted, he partners with the local Mafia to sell cigarettes on the black market. The plan works well enough that his superiors turn a blind eye, and Flaherty is emboldened to take even greater risks. Attracted to a postulant nun named Clara (Geneviève Bujold), he disguises himself as an army officer in order to seduce her.

Director: Frank Perry
Screenwriter: Abraham Polonsky, Wendell Mayes
Production Co: Frank Yablans Presentations
Rating: R
Genre: Drama
Original Language: English
Release Date (DVD): Jan 31, 2012