nineteen-year, Andy Venable works for his hard-case dad in a store warehouse during the day and plays drums in a loud heavy-metal band at night. His only clear goal at the moment is to get his sick mother, a devout Catholic, to meet the Pope before she dies. While he's busy with that, he falls for a girl who's totally out of his league and gets discovered by two Broadway producers for a musical talent that just might be his true calling. Andy's a dreamer. But dreaming is easy. It's reality that's hard.

Judging the cover of film is not always a good idea we all know that and judging by the name of this film is also a little misleading. Sure Andy wants to save up to take his mom to meet the Pope in person before she passes on but the film is not a Religious film, at least very little of it is. This is a coming of age film, a story of a young man who is just beginning to figure out his life when his world is turned upside down by a beautiful girl, one that could be using Andy for other things. While all that is going on Andy has a sick mom at home and a father that is doing his best to get Andy into the family business, something Andy wants no part of. It is not often that you stumble upon a film that touches you in as many ways as "Pope Dreams" does. The script is solid, written with care and about as realistic a story you are going to find. Each character in the film is believable and each and everyone is a person you feel for in some way. The cast is a mix of unknown talent and veterans as well, Phillip Vaden plays Andy, he does have a few other movies under his belt but you can see the talent oozing from this young man, I believe we will be seeing a lot more of him in the future. Andy's mom is played by Julie Hagerty, you may remember her from the comedy "Airplane". Julie is magnificent here as a mom who is dying but still has the will to look out for her son and his future. The rest of the cast are terrific as well. Pope Dreams is a coming of age drama that brings out all our emotions, you will laugh and you will cry, there is a lot to be sad about but in the end it leaves you with a smile on your face not only because of its ending but because you know you just saw one of the best movies this year. I love Independent cinema and this is the kind of film that reminds me why. I cannot recommend this film enough, own this DVD today. The DVD comes with Bonus Features that include:

Deleted Scenes

Outtakes

Released by PorchLight Home Entertainment. ***** Out Of *****