Anyone familiar with John Michael McDonaugh's directorial debut The Guard will be familiar with the witty, sometimes absurd dialogue, the eccentric characters and his ability to draw exceptional performances from his cast, not least Brendan Gleeson. When he's not playing smaller parts in Hollywood productions, Gleeson has demonstrated himself more than capable of being a great leading man, as his second collaboration with McDonaugh, Calvary, proves once again. Gleeson plays Father James, a good-hearted priest who is told in the confessional by a victim of child abuse at the hands of a different priest that he'll murder him in one week's time in order to send a powerful message to the church. With potentially one week left before his death, Father James sets about getting his business in order while dealing with the apparent moral vacuum in which his community live. Frequently witty despite the existential subtext, Calvary is an intelligent, sometimes thought provoking film proving that the successful pairing of McDonaugh/Gleeson in The Guard wasn't a one off.
