The Pope of Greenwich Village

The Pope of Greenwich Village (1984)

This is one of those ‘classics’ that I haven’t seen in years. While I still enjoyed it, it hasn’t held up as well as I was wishing. Sure, the performances were great but other than the oft-repeated lines, some of the writing seemed real cheesy. I think a lot of this may have to do with the mid 80s soundtrack that is just so dated. While I am a fan of Dave Grusin, this was not his best effort. There seemed to be a lot of borrowing from Giorgio Moroder or Jan Hammer. Maybe if I lived in New York city, it wouldn’t feel so dated.

Eric Roberts was really good in this as you felt for both his good side and the annoying things he does. Mickey Rourke is always fun to watch and the great Burt Young played a good role. It was definitely worth the effort.