Hamlet (1990) — PICK

The Two Popes (2019) — PASS

The problem isn’t the acting or production design, which includes an impressive set of the Sistine Chapel. It’s the script, of course, which reduces Benedict and Francis to stereotypes of, respectively, hidebound conservatism (bad) and enlightened progressivism (good).

The first act absurdly claims that Ratzinger was too ambitious for the papacy to deserve it and wrings much drama over whether Bergoglio was protesting Benedict’s conservative papacy by submitting his resignation before turning 75. Every syllable of this is false — and screenwriter Anthony McCarten knows it, as a perusal of his nonfiction book of the same title reveals.

What’s better? How about Franco Zeffirelli’s take on Hamlet, starring Mel Gibson and Glenn Close (now on Amazon and Hulu)? Not nearly the tour de force that Kenneth Branagh’s version is, but worth watching.