Brendan Gleeson
Chris O’Dowd
Kelly Reilly
Domhnall Gleeson
Aidan Gillen
Dylan Moran
Isaach de Bankolé

John Michael McDonagh

102 mins.
Drama
August 1, 2014

Rated R for sexual references, language, brief strong violence and some drug use. (MPAA)

“Calvary,” directed by John Michael McDonagh, starts in the confessional. A priest, played by Brendan Gleeson, is told by a confessor that he, the confessor, will kill him, the priest, a week from Sunday (“Sunday week”). He’ll be killed, because he’s an innocent priest – that’ll be more shocking than killing a bad one. That would make some news. (“They won’t know what to make of that.”) The confessor’s motivation is that he was molested by another priest who’s now dead. Gleeson’s priest doesn’t have much of a reaction to the threat. That kind of response continues throughout much of the film, especially early on.

One notable exception is when the priest is provoked by a local wealthy man. For some reason, that man gets under the priest’s skin a little more than the other people in his Irish parish. Is it because the priest thinks that he’s the man who threatened him? He told his superior that he knows who the person is. Or is it just that the wealthy man annoys him? We don’t know who the threatening party is until the end, but we know who the suspects are before then. So should he stay and face the man at the appointed hour, or should he go? Should he tell the police? Would that break the sanctity of the confessional?

Gleeson’s quiet attentiveness is the engine of this film. As an audience, we experience what a modern-day priest must experience every day: the treatment of people who see priests as a receptacle for their candid thoughts. Gleeson’s priest always listens, but he doesn’t always understand why these people decide to unload on him and, at times, even blame him for things that are out of his control. There’s a very dark sense of humor coursing underneath the events, even as the seriousness of the priest’s situation, along with his past, and the seriousness of the problems of the people he tries to help mount.

In addition, there are flashes of energy that provide a contrast to the overall calm generally on display: the chop of a butcher’s knife, the thud of a cigar flicked at the priest by a man whom the priest accuses of beating the married woman whom the man’s sleeping with, the odd suggestiveness of a male prostitute in the home of a policeman whom the priest asks for a gun, the smashing of another priest’s body into a bar table as the result of being thrown by the same policeman who gave the priest that gun. (“You know he had it coming.”)

As “Calvary” nears its end, the priest becomes less and less patient. He has outbursts: Is that because he feels the pressure of the coming Sunday? But in the end, he maintains his composure, as usual.

As I was watching this film, I kept thinking of the weight of sin. How it seeps into places that may be unforeseen. That message permeates “Calvary.” I can’t say that I enjoyed watching this; I liked McDonagh’s and Gleeson’s previous collaboration, “The Guard,” better. I found more humor in that. However, the acting in this film is good, and the script accomplishes what it set out to accomplish. There are some nice shots of a dreary Irish landscape, as well.

I just found this sad. In a way, “Calvary” is a passion play: The priest is a Jesus figure – he pays for another man’s sins. But why? That’s something you’ll have to determine on your own. This isn’t for everyone: Many will find it odd, because it offers no answers.

Verdict: Good

About: (Source: calvary)

CALVARY’s Father James (Brendan Gleeson) is a good priest who is faced with troubling circumstances brought about by a mysterious member of his parish. Although he continues to comfort his own fragile daughter (Kelly Reilly) and to help members of his church with their various problems, he feels a foreboding sinister force closing in, and begins to wonder if he will have the courage to face his own personal Calvary.