Saving Grace

Tom Conti, versatile star of Reuben, Reuben and American Dreamer, has a problem: he doesn't like his job. Unfortunately, he's the Pope. Around this winning premise, director Robert M. Young (The Ballad of Gregorio Cortez) has built a warm, human comedy-drama. When Pope Leo XIV, suddenly finds himself accidentally locked out of the Vatican one morning--dressed for gardening and penniless--he takes advantage of his relative anonymity to go out into the world and meet the people whom he supposedly serves. His travels take him to a remote Italian village that has been plagued by disease and economic hardship. The village, which has no priest and no water (because of a broken trough, which no one has the spirit to fix), has become dependent for employment on a neighboring town, and is more or less run by small-time hoods. While the PR folk at the Vatican try to cover up the Pope's absence, Leo struggles to get the town back on its economic feet. This is a warm, loving--albeit lightweight--comedy drama, that owes a lot to the natural charisma of Tom Conti. Recommended.