Have No Fear: The Life of Pope John Paul II
ABC | Release Date: December 1, 2005
CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
35
METASCORE
Generally unfavorable reviews based on 20 Critic Reviews
Positive:
2
Mixed:
6
Negative:
12

Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
30
VarietyBrian Lowry
Season 1 Review: Granted, the smaller time frame makes it more difficult to chronicle an 80-some-odd-year life, but what emerges is a CliffsNotes version that fastidiously avoids crowd shots (presumably to keep costs down) and struggles to create drama with its worshipful tone. Read full review
30
NewsdayVerne Gay
Season 1 Review: All this feels dutiful and rote - the CliffsNotes version. Read full review
30
Chicago TribuneSid Smith
Season 1 Review: The movie is more a series of biographical announcements than penetrating drama. Read full review
30
San Jose Mercury News/Contra Costa TimesCharlie McCollum
Season 1 Review: Anything remotely resembling complexity and nuance has been sacrificed to cramming six decades of history into two hours of airtime, minus commercials. Read full review
30
Los Angeles TimesRobert Lloyd
Season 1 Review: The accelerating pace of the movie runs roughshod over the drama. Read full review
30
SlateDana Stevens
Season 1 Review: It zips through 60-plus years of Wojtyla's life at a pace that manages to be both breakneck and boring. Read full review
25
New York Daily NewsDavid Hinckley
Season 1 Review: Stiflingly reverential, sadly superficial. Read full review
20
Pittsburgh Post-GazetteAnn Rodgers
Season 1 Review: Because the movie tries to cover too much ground, it will be incoherent for those who don't already know the story, and disappointing for those who do. Worse, it is off-key in its presentation of both minor and major passages of his life. Read full review
10
Boston GlobeMatthew Gilbert
Season 1 Review: Turns the pope into a pious stick figure. Read full review
10
Seattle Post-IntelligencerMelanie McFarland
Season 1 Review: Largely worthless. Read full review
10
Washington PostTom Shales
Season 1 Review: Even though the life of the Polish pope... obviously is loaded with dramatic potential, the film seems listlessly uninterested in exploring it. Read full review
0
Chicago Sun-TimesDoug Elfman
Season 1 Review: I think I could have written a better script during the two hours it took me to watch "Have No Fear." I think you could, too, and I don't even know you. Read full review
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