THE PLOT THUS FAR
An ambitious priest seduces a nun and leads the Vatican into shady business during and after World War II.
WHAT WE THOUGHT
Back in the early 1980s, there was this big rush to create the next “Thorn Birds”. Christopher Reeve was desperate to break away from Superman and the studios were wanting to help. So, they enlisted the help of Mommie Dearest helmer Frank Perry to craft a careful tale of historical fiction. Needless to say, it ended up the way you think it would. Monsignor is harder to appreciate for all its awfulness in light of the real life tragedy suffered by Christopher Reeve. But it must be said that Reeve’s acting is at the heart of this bad movie. Reeve plays a priest who essentially breaks every rule and vow — and is rewarded with rapid and consistent promotion, all the way to the heights of the Vatican. Corrupt, sleeps with nuns — and he becomes the Vatican’s trusted financial manager.
While it is a campy movie, there is room to rediscover it. I know that there are a lot of Frank Perry fans out there that relish the man’s later work. However, I can’t call this film anything but dimestore Mario Puzo wrapped in TV mini-series rags. The fact that 20th Century Fox took a chance on this only serves as a testament to the kind of Star Wars cash they were blowing through at the time. I guess watching these kinds of movies are what people did before Cable TV gave this schlock a second home.
The DVD comes with no special features. The Dolby 2.0 Surround track is unimpressive and sounds like no one’s ever bothered to clean it up. The transfer is rather cleaner than the old CBS FOX VHS tape, but not by much. Frank Perry’s got a huge following and I wonder why the transfer couldn’t have been a little cleaner. Oh well, it’s still a fun oddity for the camp film lovers out there. In the end, I’d recommend a purchase for the curious.
RELEASE DATE: 01/31/2012
