A Clash Between a Shepherd and His Flock

Although he has only made two feature-length films, director John Michael McDonagh seems to have a talent for creating stories that are rooted in the Irish culture, like he did back in 2011 with his fantastic crime comedy, “The Guard.”  Now, he has switched to a much more dramatic narrative with “Calvary,” and re-teams with his “Guard” leading man, Brendan Gleeson, for a film that asks a lot questions, but doesn’t offer easy answers.

In Ireland, Father James (Gleeson) is a Catholic priest whose life is threatened one day during a confession when a parishioner tells him that he will kill him in one week, as an act of vengeance for what was done to him by another priest when he was younger, who has since died.  During this week, Father James will come to know some dark secrets of his churchgoers, while also attempting to reconnect with his suicidal daughter, Fiona (Kelly Reilly), who is visiting from London.

Brendan Gleeson gives an outstanding performance as the troubled priest.  His character doesn't show any sign of fear, but a deep-rooted sense of faith that carries him through this foreboding week.  The way that Gleeson presents this character shows that Father James is a rational individual who wishes the best for his parish.  You understand that he has a great love for his churchgoers because of the way he speaks to them and tries to understand them, and you’re crushed as more misfortunes befall him.  When other individuals in the community begin to turn against him, you feel compelled even more to stick by him and see him through this strange ordeal.

Kelly Reilly, whose talent has her deserving of much more recognition, is wonderful as Father James' daughter.  What’s most admirable about her character is that she’s not someone to hold a big grudge against her father and act mopey around him, but someone who tries to reconnect with him throughout her stay.  Her tranquil personality allows her to understand the type of person her father is without getting upset with him.  The fact that Reilly can have strong connections with her very experienced costars, just as she exemplified in “Flight” when she acted alongside Denzel Washington, really gives you an idea of her abilities as an actress.

There is an in-depth view of the film’s Irish community that is offered through the very distinct supporting characters, which include the local bartender (Pat Shortt), the town butcher (Chris O’ Dowd), a deeply disturbed prison inmate (Domhnall Gleeson), a promiscuous young woman (Orla O’Rourke), a very darkly funny doctor (Aidan Gillen) and several others.  All of these individuals are easily memorable because of the scenes they share with the main character and the content of those interactions.  Each supporting character is given enough detail to present their own little stories that make up the bigger community in which they live.

The cinematography by Larry Smith offers gorgeous landscape shots of Ireland, particularly the seaside.  Some of these shots are aerial in their photography, as if a higher being is watching over this small community and hoping that the priest can turn his churchgoers into more virtuous people.  Because of this, the framing of these shots contributes to the film’s religious aspects.

What’s interesting about John Michael McDonagh’s screenplay is how the narrative doesn’t unfold in the way that you might expect, given the type of story it presents.  Seeing as Father James and the audience already have an idea of who the culprit is because of his recognizable voice during the confession scene, the movie becomes more about the priest dealing with the lack of morals in his community, rather than about him trying to figure out who’s threatening him.  Your sympathy continues to build for his character as the week goes on and his number of adversaries becomes larger.  

One of the many intelligent things that McDonagh does with the screenplay is that he doesn’t have the priest outright try to stop people from committing sins, but has him believe that his parishioners still have the capability to stop themselves from committing them.  This all ties into the resilience of his faith that those in his community will do what’s right and turn away from sin.

Director McDonagh has made a film that terrifically merges the drama and suspense of the story.  Again, although the audience might have an idea of who the culprit is during the film, the suspense comes from how the priest and community interact with each other, and McDonagh keeps that tension as the story positions Father James against his parish.

When watching “Calvary,” the weightiness of the story latches itself onto you, and you give into it right away.  With that, McDonagh has made a movie that’s original, emotional and fearless.

Final grade: A

Growing Up Through the Lens of a Camera

Movies have always had the power to depict what it means to live, with how close those portraits come to the real thing varying from film to film.  There is one movie, however, that is so detailed and bold in its approach to capturing on film what it means to grow up, that you completely sink into it.  That movie is director Richard Linklater’s “Boyhood.”  

In a filmmaking method that has never been done before, he cast his movie back in 2002, and filmed his actors and actresses over the following 12 years.  It’s rather difficult to write an actual synopsis of the plot because the whole movie is a series of seamlessly connected vignettes that chronicles the growth of the main character.  Basically, what I can say is that the film focuses on six-year-old Mason Evans (Ellar Coltrane), who lives with his older sister, Samantha (Lorelei Linklater), and their mother (Patricia Arquette) in Texas, who is divorced from her husband (Ethan Hawke).  Over the course of 12 years, Mason will be shaped by people and events around him, and will try and figure out what kind of person he wishes to become.

Watching Ellar Coltrane grow up as his character is stunning to watch, and is a pure example of cinematic metamorphosis, and he’s perfectly in sync with whatever Mason is feeling in any period of his life.  Despite the fact that his character acts more reserved as he enters his teenage years, you can still tell that there’s a lot going on deep in his mind as he tries to figure out what the next steps in his life will be. 

Patricia Arquette is a genuine force to watch as Mason’s strong-willed mother.  Although her character is under the strains of maternity and financial stress, her willingness to do what’s right for her family always serves as her reliable armor, and Arquette’s final scene in the film solidifies her performance as one of the best of the year.

Ethan Hawke, who worked with Linklater on the “Before” trilogy, adds another excellent performance to their always-successful collaboration, and is a natural in handling Linklater’s dialogue.  Just like Arquette, Hawke’s screen time with Coltrane and [Lorelei] Linklater is amazing to watch because of how well the three interact, and the scenes between him and Coltrane are some of the finest I’ve ever watched between a father and son character in a movie.

Out of all of the non-immediate-family characters that come in and out of Mason’s life, the most memorable in the film is his alcoholic stepfather (Marco Perella).  While seeming like an ideal parent in his first couple of scenes, he slowly turns into what becomes a frightening and domineering individual.  The power of his performance comes in his ability to create a great deal of tension whenever he’s on screen, particularly in the pressure-cooker dinner scene.

Similar to what Linklater did with his “Before” trilogy, he uses several long takes to give an idea of the film unfolding in real time, and this is with the help of cinematography by Lee Daniel and Shane Kelly.  Although “Boyhood” takes place in a much bigger time frame than that of the one-day-long time frames of the “Before” films, the use of long takes in certain instances makes the film seem like a documentary, as if you’re watching the lives of a real family transpire on screen.

The screenplay by Richard Linklater skillfully links each part of the story to create a whole that never seems episodic.  There are smooth transitions from year to year as Mason gradually gets older, and the film devotes a sufficient amount of time to each of the 12 years that we see from his life.

One clever aspect about the screenplay is that, instead of displaying any notes on the screen to tell the audience what year the film is currently in, it plays certain hit singles in the background to give the audience an idea of what year is taking place, and uses each tune in whatever portion of the film that coincides with the time of the song’s release.  This relates back to and is a reminder of the relationship between Mason and his father because out of all of the characters in the film, Mason has the strongest relationship with his father, who himself is an aspiring musician.

Linklater has done something undeniably special in his approach to showing his characters grow up.  The narrative comes so impressively close to what it’s like to go from childhood to adulthood, that it’s very difficult not to find at least a couple of scenes to which you can relate.

Through his 12-year dedication, Linklater has made the ultimate coming-of-age film, as well as one of the richest moviegoing experiences you’re likely to have this decade, maybe even your entire life. 

Final grade: A

Traveling Among the Stars with Misfits

Phase Two of the Marvel Cinematic Universe has been getting more exciting with each new film.  Although it began with the disappointing “Iron Man 3,” it got better with the okay, but still entertaining “Thor: The Dark World,” which was then followed by the outright thrilling “Captain America: The Winter Soldier.”  We are now closer to the conclusion of Phase Two as we wait for the release of “Avengers: Age of Ultron” in May 2015.  Before we arrive there, however, there’s still the matter of mixing a few more characters into the MCU.

We’ve seen multiple movies with Iron Man, Thor and Captain America, but the MCU is now ready for us to meet some new space-traveling heroes.  In director James Gunn’s sci-fi adventure, “Guardians of the Galaxy,” he introduces moviegoers to a quintet of gleefully brassy fighters.  Although it doesn't quite reach the heights of the recent “Captain America” sequel, it’s certainly up there with the best of the MCU films.

Twenty-six years after being abducted as a child by intergalactic thieves known as “Ravagers,” Peter Quill/Star-Lord (Chris Pratt), has become a pro at snatching rare artifacts for his team of thugs.  After finding an orb-like artifact that contains a mysterious power, he decides to sell the orb for himself on the planet Xandar, the home of the Nova Corps, who are an intergalactic military group.  Upon realizing this, his fellow Ravagers put a bounty on him, while the sinister Ronan the Accuser (Lee Pace), who has promised to retrieve the orb for the villainous titan Thanos (voiced by Josh Brolin), sends out his assassin, Gamora (Zoe Saldana), to get it back for him.

After Peter and Gamora confront each other over the orb on Xandar, the fight is brought to the attention of a bounty hunter named Rocket (voiced by Bradley Cooper), who is a genetically engineered raccoon, and his partner, a tree-like humanoid named Groot (voiced by Vin Diesel).  After the four are sent to a prison know as the Kyln, they team up with inmate Drax the Destroyer (Dave Bautista) and escape with the orb in their possession.  Once they’re free, the five will have to work together to find a way to defeat Ronan and prevent the artifact from falling into his grasp.

Chris Pratt is terrifically funny as the group’s leader.  The first time we see him as an adult is when he arrives on the distant planet of Morag to retrieve the artifact, and he listens to Redbone’s “Come and Get Your Love” on his Walkman as he dances his way to where the orb is hidden.  This is a very fun and comically unconventional introduction to a superhero who exudes confidence.  With his quick witticisms, devil-may-care attitude and playboy personality, Peter Quill is pretty much the Tony Stark of the Guardians.

As far as Zoe Saldana’s character goes, from when she meets Peter on Xandar, you easily get a sense of the slyness in her movements and attitude, easily striking an image of a sneaky assassin as she eyes her target.

A true surprise about the cast is how well professional wrestler Dave Bautista portrays Drax.  Bautista displays terrific timing with the straight-face delivery of his dialogue, and his ability to become a part of the comedic dynamics within the group proves that he belongs in this film.  

By having Vin Diesel voice Groot, he calls to mind his voice work for the robot in the animated film “The Iron Giant.”  His character is able to draw laughs by responding to everything with, “I am Groot,” but repeats it with different intonations of his voice so that the phrase doesn’t become old.

Bradley Cooper provides brazenly funny voice work for Rocket.  Almost everything that his character says is impossible not to laugh at, and his character effortlessly walks away with each of his scenes. 

The five Guardians are equally memorable in their own distinct ways.  Each of them is able to flourish in their moments of comedy and tension, and they all work exceedingly well together when on screen, and each of them has the potential to become fan favorites.

After seeing Benicio del Toro’s cameo as The Collector in the “Thor” sequel, I couldn’t wait to see what else he would do with the character in this film.  He certainly has the showmanship needed for the role, however, he only gets a few minutes of screen time.  He’s a strong actor, so I hope he’s given more scenes to work with in future installments. 

Some villains in the MCU have certainly had more depth than others.  Regarding Lee Pace’s performance as Ronan, he has formidable presence to pull off the character, but his role never really goes beyond wanting to find the orb and acting as a glorified henchman for Thanos.  Although Loki acted as a puppet for Thanos in “The Avengers,” he had more dramatic weight to his character to back him up.

The screenplay by James Gunn and Nicole Perlman, which is based on the comics by Dan Abnett and Andy Lanning, skillfully acquaints this new team of heroes to audiences and the MCU, with each of the Guardians’ introductory scenes giving viewers an idea of who these characters are, while also expanding other ideas of the MCU at the same time.  Even with all of the action sequences built into the script, we still get plenty of moments that allow us to grow more familiar with these characters in the still-expanding list of participants in the MCU.  Watching these five come together becomes every bit as fun as when we saw the Avengers come together for the first time two years ago.

One of the most unexpected aspects about the film is how the screenwriters involved Thanos in a bigger way than I anticipated.  As the main villain of the entire MCU, he’s not just given a cameo that lasts a few seconds, but is given an actual scene with several lines of dialogue.  Based on what I’ve seen so far of Josh Brolin as Thanos, I’m looking forward to seeing what he does with the character when he returns in the third “Avengers” film.

This is one of the funniest big-budget blockbusters to come along in a while, with jokes and one-liners that actually land because they fit so well with the personalities of the characters.  There are even some jokes in the movie that you wouldn’t expect to be in a Marvel film, but they work.  Although the humor can become a bit much during the climactic final battle, it still works for a majority of the film.

Marvel Studios continues to surprise me with the adequacy of their choices for directors, just like Jon Favreau with the original “Iron Man,” Kenneth Branagh with the original “Thor,” Joe Johnston with “Captain America: The First Avenger,” and Anthony and Joe Russo for “Captain America: The Winter Soldier.”  Now, director Gunn can be added to that roster of successes, as he provides plenty of colorful cosmic visuals without ever letting them dilute the growth of the characters.  Gunn embraces the offbeat nature of this mythology, seeing as he has previous experience in dealing with eccentric superheroes, as he wrote and directed the 2010 indie dark-comedy, “Super,” and he carries that interesting strangeness over to “Guardians.”

The Guardians of the Galaxy will not appear in “Age of Ultron,” so we won’t see them again until their own sequel gets released in July 2017.  In the meantime, it would be a wise choice to get to know these five heroes and continue to immerse yourself in the abundance of stories that the MCU continues to offer.

Final grade: B+