THE CALVARY

Basically…

During confession, Father Lavelle (Brendan Gleeson) learns that one of the locals is planning to kill him in an act of revenge against the Catholic Church. He then spends the next seven days dealing with a range of people in his village who each have their own reasons for disliking his religion and piecing together who is preparing to take his life.

In other words…

Father Ted is Father Dead.

The main men and leading ladies…

Brendan Gleeson is cast to perfection as the craggy and burdened – yet devoted priest – and makes this film what it is. But without the correct tone we don’t see him fulfil his potential. Had he brought his cynical humour from In Bruges it would have worked perfectly, but instead John Michael McDonagh cast him without the same wit or sarcasm – traits that wouldn’t have been out of place here. Chris O’Dowd is more than your lovable idiot for a change, and is back playing to his strengths again after some questionable roles in Girls and Cuban Fury. Dylan Moran is as excellent as ever and Kelly Reilly plays the troubled daughter well.

In the chair…

McDonagh follows up The Guard with a similar dark and subtle humour – and as much as that’s great, he still fails to live up to his brother Martin’s work. Had he been less subtle with the black comedic tone like his brother’s In Bruges and Seven Psychopaths, both his movies would be rivaling them on the cult classic scale.

So…?

It’s refreshing to see a film cast a priest as the innocent good guy for a change, but is the dying genre really something we’ve missed? In this case it feels like something's missing, and while the acting is immense, the plot is powerful and the atmosphere is intense, the tone could have been darker. The storyline merited more black humour than just the odd one liner, and had the scope to use the mystery element and subtle detective work to greater depth. And not that I’m one for plot spoilers, but seeing an unnecessary shot of a murdered pet Labrador is deplorable. Get that sorted McDonagh. 

Worth the money?

Nope.