Pope Dreams (2006)

User Rating:

6.8/10   

Director:

Patrick Hogan

Writer:

Patrick Hogan (writer)

Genre:

Drama

Tagline:

He's dealing with love... fighting with his dad... caring for mom... and making music. What's that got to do with the Pope?

Plot:

A young boy tries to make his dying mother's dream come true while navigating through his love life.

Plot Keywords:

Catholic | Teen | Los Angeles California | Mother Son Relationship | Father Son Relationship

Awards:

5 wins

Cast

Phillip Vaden	...	Andy Venable
Marnette Patterson	...	Brady Rossman
Julie Hagerty	...	Kristina Venable
Stephen Tobolowsky	...	Carl Venable
Noel Fisher	...	Pete
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Casey Barclay	...	Eric
Jordan Belfi	...	Lucas Bowman
Naleah Dey	...	Juanita Steinberg
Michael Edwin	...	Case Officer
Chris Foreman	...	Zane
Sarah Foret	...	Hannah
Barbara Lettieri	...	Italian Phone Operator (voice)
Albert-James Motil	...	Priest
Larisa Oleynik	...	Maggie Venable
David Shatraw	...	Joel Rossman
Rex Smith	...	Don Merchant
Robert Stio	...	Store Clerk
Stuart Stone	...	Fox
Karen Zumsteg	...	Janet Venable

Also Known As:

Music for My Mother (USA) (TV title)

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Filming Locations:

Los Angeles, California, USA

Company:

Pescadito Productions

Trivia:

The video that Andy and Brady watch on their first date Not Too Tart, Not Too Sweet (2003) is an earlier film made by producer 'Steve Loh'.

A kind-hearted, well-acted movie. Different title, maybe?

The charming "Pope Dreams" was one my favorites at last week's Atlanta Film Festival. I set aside my cynicism and my adult aversion to being emotionally manipulated by a plot-by-the-numbers script when I realized that this was going to be a straight-up coming-of-age movie. Besides, it's the wonderful acting that makes "Pope Dreams" stand out in a film festival setting, which tends to show more ironically wised-up characters. Although, with a title like "Pope Dreams", I figured this film would be ironic. Instead, this was a really generous-spirited adolescent movie about social class and love and family and music.

I did find the title a bit off the beam,however, since,in this cut, anyway, the Papal pilgrimage subplot is quite incidental to the story. One of the film's best bits of dialog is a musically misunderstood reference to "Early Sabbath". I thought - "that's makes a great title!" - to myself as I was watching....