There’s a news item coming out of THR.com that I had to do a double take on to believe: The Vatican has endorsed The Blues Brothers: On the 30th anniversary of the film’s release, L’Osservatore
Romano, the Vatican’s official newspaper, called the film a
“Catholic classic” and said it should be recommended viewing for
Catholics everywhere. This means that John Landis’ iconic comedy is joining the ranks of films such as Cecil B. DeMille’s The Ten Commandments, Jesus of Nazareth from
Franco Zeffirelli, Mel Gibson’s The Passion of The Christ,
Victor Flemming’s Joan of Arc, and It’s a Wonderful Life from
Frank Capra.
Wow. Although Jake and Elwood were on a mission from God, this wasn’t a movie that I would have expected would ever even be seen by the Vatican, let alone praised by them. Maybe Benedict VXI just likes good music or gnarly car chases.