Starring: Brendan Gleeson, Chris O’Dowd, Kelly Reilly, Aiden Gillen, Domhall Gleeson, M Emmet Walsh.
Directed By: John Michael McDonagh
In Ireland, a priest receives an ominous warning giving him a week to live, and spends the week battling the darkness closing in on him. Not to spoil too much, but since this is all in the first scene in the film, I feel like it’s OK. The “bad guy” in the film wants to kill Gleeson’s Catholic Priest because when he was 7, his priest started raping him, and it went on for five years. He’s decided that any priests blood will do, and gives Gleeson a week to get his affairs in order.
Gleeson’s character Father Lavelle spends the rest of the movie doing just that. He offers counseling to those who are in need, offers advice to those who will listen, and battles his own personal demons and conflicts with the church and the life he has dedicated.
He is not a bad person. He’s clearly a good man, who has been caught up in this tremendous issue of Catholic Priests abusing young boys. As the film comes closer to an end, you wonder if he’ll go through with it, and allow himself to be killed. You wonder if running makes him less of a man… or more of a man. The great thing about this movie, is that you can draw your own conclusions from a lot of it. It has different interpretations. You could say that staying makes him stronger, because he’s willing to die for what he believes in. Or, you could say he’s staying because he’s repenting for others sins, much like Jesus died on the cross. You could say he should run, because God doesn’t expect him to take a bullet for another Priests sins.
The debate could go on and on, and it’s because how well written Father Lavelle is, as well as how extraordinary Gleeson portrays him. It’s a shame that he’s a little let down by his cast. I didn’t feel that the supporting cast really stepped up in their roles. Notably, Aiden Gillen, who’s actually cartoonishly awful in this. His accent, his sneering, his facial expressions.. all of it seems like something out of the Rocky and Bullwinkle cartoons.
I’m not saying Gillen will kill Calvary’s Oscar chances. I think Gleeson’s performance demands to be seen, and will be one that is buzzed about at the end of the year. The problem is that Brendon Gleeson is an actor that has become more and more accepted as a person that is OK to overlook, as if he can’t turn in a buzzworthy performance. That’s completely false, and character actors deserve their day too. I hope Calvary at least gets Gleeson some BAFTA coverage.
Calvary is the second film I’ve seen this year that I feel confident will have legs to reach the Oscar race. It’s not an uplifting film, nor is it particularly a downer. It’s right in between… walking the safe path, much like Father Lavelle. Only, unlike his character in the film, Gleeson is going to get a lot of due praise.
FINAL GRADE: A-
