Review of Calvary (2014) by M S — 30 Jul 2014

I rarely give a film 5 stars, but in my view, Calvary merits the highest rating. I encourage fans of great character-driven drama to see this film, if only for Brendan Gleeson's stellar performance as Fr. James. We hear so much these days about priests who have failed. But Fr James is one of the good ones. Of course he's still human, with human frailties. And Gleeson does a fabulous job at making him 3-dimensional. He's someone we'd want to know.

There are some good laughs in Calvary, but the subject matter is mostly serious--child molestation, suicide, attempted suicide, loneliness, corruption...And all this in a small town in Ireland. There's an interesting cast of characters, including Chris O'Dowd as a parishioner and town butcher, and Aiden Gillen of Game of Thrones as a creepy atheist doctor. This movie gives viewers a lot to think about.