The Pope’s Exorcist

Directed by Julius Avery, The Pope’s Exorcist follows Russell Crowe’s Father Gabriele Amorth as he agrees to help a young boy (Peter DeSouza-Feighoney’s Henry) suffering from a demonic possession. It’s familiar subject matter that’s employed to periodically watchable yet mostly tiresome effect by Avery, as the filmmaker, armed with Michael Petroni and Evan Spiliotopoulos’ screenplay, delivers a paint-by-numbers thriller that’s been suffused with some of the exorcism genre’s hoariest conventions and clichés (ie the movie generally comes off as a greatest hits compilation of other similarly-themed fare) – with the arms-length atmosphere compounded by an opening stretch that couldn’t possibly be less interesting or inviting. (It doesn’t help, certainly, that Avery initially emphasizes the exploits of a completely bland family unit, including an eye-rollingly sullen teenager.) And although Crowe offers up an entertaining performance that rarely takes itself seriously, The Pope’s Exorcist builds towards an increasingly tedious midsection that stresses the characters’ dull-as-dishwater investigation into the demon’s origins and a series of far-from-fresh exorcism interludes  – which, when coupled with a CGI-heavy, woefully over-the-top finale, ultimately does cement the picture’s place as a misfire of fairly disappointing (and distressing) proportions.

** out of ****