New York Times made note of difficulties inherent in creating a film about a historical person while the person is living. They offered that while a person might be mythicized after their death, and might even be so when living, it is when they are living that a production company has boundaries, as "current images, common knowledge, popular consensus shape them." They wrote that this project was "at once enhanced and hindered by this." They granted that while Pope John Paul II's life story "is sure-fire for a biography", and viewers would likely have their own views and impressions of him, with his being a living subject, when it comes to historical accuracy, "A filmmaker can tamper with this only lightly, not only because heavy tampering would be distasteful, even irreverent, but because it would be jarring, an assault on our sensibilities." In the production company respecting this, the film becomes "almost a series of anecdotes." Boston Globe made note that director Herbert Wise's choice of flashback to tell the story made the timeline easy to follow and allowed him to "introduce scenes from Wojtyła's early life in black and white." They applauded makeup artists for their making actor Albert Finney look "eerily like the Pope", and the actor himself for mastering "the Pope's stoop and his hand gestures". They found that in the director portraying "Wojtyła as a man without a flaw", the story itself was "without a moral dilemma and, therefore, without dramatic edge". Accolades AllRovi wrote that the screenplay by Christopher Knopf was "written with reverence and intelligence". The film received a 1985 WGA Awards nomination for writer Christopher Knopf for 'Original Drama Anthology'. References External links 1984 television films 1984 films 1984 drama films CBS network films American biographical drama films Films about Pope John Paul II Films set in Kraków Films shot in Poland Films shot in Austria Films shot in Rome American drama television films Films directed by Herbert Wise 1980s American films