Calvary

Calvary, McDonagh’s followup to The Guard, opens with a brilliantly startling opening line. I won’t spoil it here, not that it matters though, as the writer-director spoils it himself a few seconds later: “That’s certainly a startling opening line,” says Father James (an earthy Brendan Gleeson) to the unseen man who’s giving confession. This smug, meta self-commentary continues throughout as we discover the confessor plans to kill the priest in seven days as punishment for the Catholic Church’s sins.

What follows is an uncompelling comic whodunit (or whowilldoit) with delusions of existential grandeur. Father James does the rounds of his small parish – each of his flock the potential assassin, none believable characters – and engages them in debates about faith. Perhaps to compensate for his talky script and repetitive structure, McDonagh’s direction is distractingly fussy, all asymmetrical framing and on-the-nose symbolism. The one grace note is Gleeson. Beefy and wise, his forlorn marked-man is always watchable, even when spouting smart aleck dialogue as his director strains for transcendence. [Jamie Dunn]