Pope Francis - A Man of His Word
Focus Features | Release Date: May 18, 2018 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
63
METASCORE
Generally favorable reviews based on 24 Critic Reviews
Positive:
15
Mixed:
9
Negative:
0
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
100
San Francisco ChronicleWalter AddiegoMay 16, 2018
The director is clearly an admirer of Francis (both the saint and the pope), and was able to conduct extensive and exclusive interviews with the pontiff. Read full review
91
Entertainment WeeklyChris NashawatyMay 17, 2018
Whether he’s washing the feet of prisoners in America, visiting sick children in Africa, or praying with hurricane victims in Asia, Pope Francis doesn’t merely preach empathy, responsibility, and accountability, he lives it. Read full review
75
RogerEbert.comNick AllenMay 18, 2018
Pope Francis: A Man of His Word is a non-denominational sermon, under the cinematic care of an artist first, Pope Francis fanboy second. Read full review
75
St. Louis Post-DispatchCalvin WilsonMay 17, 2018
In his affect and attitude, he’s refreshingly free of bluster. And it’s almost unbelievable that a man of his power and prestige insists on maintaining such a modest lifestyle. Read full review
75
Washington PostAnn HornadayMay 17, 2018
In this stirring portrait, it’s possible to see evangelism not in hectoring words or holier-than-thou bromides, but in loving action. Who wouldn’t say amen to that? Read full review
75
Philadelphia Daily NewsGary ThompsonMay 17, 2018
A Man of His Word...is not a lecture. It conveys the pope’s concerns, certainly, but it also conveys his charm — his gentle, personal manner, his sense of humor (he quotes from the St. Thomas More joke book), his “charisma.” Read full review
75
Boston GlobeTy BurrMay 16, 2018
Pope Francis: A Man of His Word is an essay in radical humility capable of moving a viewer regardless of his or her religious persuasions, or lack thereof. Read full review
75
The Seattle TimesSoren AndersenMay 15, 2018
The picture is a no warts-and-all look at Francis’ papacy, but rather emphasizes his humanity and humility. Those personal qualities and his words are sources of hope In this politically fraught and fevered age. Read full review
75
TheWrapSteve PondMay 13, 2018
Pope Francis is a healer, not a proselytizer. And Wenders knows enough to stand back and let him say his piece and make his peace. Read full review
70
VoxAlissa WilkinsonMay 17, 2018
Pope Francis — A Man of His Word isn’t likely to convert any of Francis’s critics, but it might just convince the indifferent that he has something to say to our world. Read full review
70
Arizona RepublicBill GoodykoontzMay 17, 2018
There are shortcomings in this film, and most of them are Wenders’ responsibility. But there is also inspiration here, if you’re willing to look for it. Read full review
67
IndieWireKate ErblandMay 13, 2018
The film shows a refreshing interest in his current existence, rather than becoming a by-the-book retread of his pre-pope life. Read full review
63
The Globe and Mail (Toronto)John SemleyMay 17, 2018
So where the hypocrisy, didacticism and inaction of previous popes righteously roused our anger and indignation, Francis stands as a palliative cure-all for anti-papal sentiment. Likewise, Wenders’s documentary seems to yearn to excite the viewer’s passion, to ignite a desire to take meaningful action against the very real social problems the Pope so clearly diagnoses. Read full review
63
New York PostJohnny OleksinskiMay 17, 2018
While the film is best for fans of the cloth, non-Catholics, too, will gain insight into one of the most prominent leaders in the world. Read full review
63
Movie NationRoger MooreMay 14, 2018
You don’t feel Francis is challenged on anything here, and as lightly charming and impressive as he and this almost-all-access documentary is, one can only imagine what the great doc-makers — Errol Morris or Werner Herzog or Barbara Koppel — could have done with this. Read full review
60
Los Angeles TimesJustin ChangMay 17, 2018
The result doesn't feel evasive so much as vaguely incurious, and its focus on the message over the man himself can be as impressive in its single-mindedness as it is frustrating. Read full review
60
The New York TimesGlenn KennyMay 17, 2018
The interview sections are fascinating, and scenes of the pope’s travels, during which he frequently washes the feet of those who come to him, are moving.... Less welcome are Mr. Wenders’s brief attempts at depicting the life of St. Francis himself. Read full review
60
Screen DailyTim GriersonMay 13, 2018
More a gloss than an insightful dissection, this documentary frustrates by sticking to the man’s surface, reducing his words to commendable sound-bites rather than deeply exploring them. Read full review
60
The Hollywood ReporterStephen FarberMay 13, 2018
It is a pleasure to watch the present-day Francis interact with people all over the world and articulate his hopes for improving the lot of the poor. The film is humane and unobjectionable, but in the end, it isn’t pointed enough to seize the attention of skeptics in the audience. Read full review
60
VarietyAndrew BarkerMay 13, 2018
Few popes in living memory have seemed as recognizably human as Francis — for all its access, and for all the inherent empathy of its director, Wenders’ film is never able to completely connect the dots between the man and the figure. Read full review
58
The A.V. ClubMike D'AngeloMay 15, 2018
The film’s appeal, predicated on its rare close-up look at a working Bishop Of Rome, will be limited primarily to the faithful; those hoping for a candid portrait of the man beneath the cassock will be sorely disappointed. Read full review
50
Slant MagazineEd GonzalezMay 17, 2018
It often plays like a toothless PR video designed to rehabilitate the Catholic Church's reputation in the wake of its global pedophilia scandal. Read full review
50
Austin ChronicleMarjorie BaumgartenMay 16, 2018
He seems to be everything anyone might want from a pope, and this commissioned film seems to be part of the PR campaign to spread that particular gospel to the world. Read full review
40
The GuardianPeter BradshawMay 14, 2018
Access to the great man has clearly been provided with an undertaking not to challenge, not even to ask questions, in the normal interview sense. Read full review
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