Calvary Review

RYAN: I’m glad to have Erik Groben join me for this review since you’ve seen The Guard, a previous film by this writer/director, John Michael McDonagh, and also starring Brendan Gleeson.  Calvary is a really great drama the unfolds like a mystery.  The tone and story is very Hitchcockian. I always enjoy Brendan and am super impressed with him in this film.  He’s dramatic performance is so strong, even when he’s not delivering lines, his facial expressions are genius.

ERIK: It’s interesting you start with his performance because when I saw him in The Guard, and let me mention that although Calvary had comedic moments in it, sometime sinister and sometimes touching and comical… The Guard was more comical than Calvary.  Brendan is a great centerpiece surrounded by great characters.

RYAN: Yeah it takes place in a small Irish town and it’s quite the kooky cast of characters, very quirky rich, unique personalities.  It’s almost like the game of Clue – very well defined characters in a mystery.  It’s fun to look back at throve and question each characters’ motives.

ERIK: Yeah as an audience, you really empathize with Brendan’s character among all of these crazy people in his community.  He’s a priest in the movie.  He has his faith but he also has a traumatic backstory.  It feels like he’s constantly tested.

RYAN: He’s scorned for no reason.  The opening scene was brilliant.  The first line is outrageous and funny and then you immediately realize it’s not.  It sets the perfect town for the whole film.  And it’s one shot, a closeup of Brendan’s face and his reactions are brillz.  That shot, alone, speaks to the strength of his performance.  I loved all the aerial shots in the film.  And the score is so beautiful and moody.  The art design is very stylized.  It meshes so well with the story and brings a haunting sense to it all.

ERIK: It is a very haunting story.  and The Guard also took place in Ireland and in that one he was a police officer instead of a priest.

RYAN: His daughter in this is played by Kelly Reilly and I like her but I’ve only seen her in heavy dramatic roles and I’d love to see her do something light.  And it’s great seeing Chris O’Dowd who we know is funny exercising some great dramatic skills.

ERIK: Yes he shows range you don’t often see from him.  It’s nice to see that.

RYAN: It’s slow at parts and I zoned out during some scenes but I would totally get sucked back into it and it’s so worth sticking through it all.

ERIK: Absolutely.  There’s a payoff.

RYAN: Such a good montage at the end.  We obviously won’t give away why but it’s so good.

ERIK: I wouldn’t be surprised to see this come up in some awards categories.  It’s funny, dark and bounces between them but you always know what you’re supposed to be feeling.

RYAN: Yeah if it’s campaigned the right way, it certainly could be.  It’s worthy.  It’s interesting and dark.  Screenplay, score, art direction, some performances… it all carries much weight.  For mature audiences, it’s great.

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