The funny thing about the movie is the way it begins, namely, with a bang, but one hinting that the filmmakers have something slightly more intellectual in mind that the run of the mill B-grade action flick. Missing in Action’s opening sequence is a well filmed, smartly edited chase sequence in the Vietnamese jungles back during the war.
Director John Michael McDonagh wastes no time in establishing the stakes of Calvary. In a darkened confessional, Father James Lavelle (Brendan Gleeson) is told that he is going to die in a week. The man planning to kill the priest explains it is exactly because Father Lavelle has done nothing wrong that he is going to die. Of the two McDonagh brothers, John Michael is known for his irreverent comedy The Guard, but with this latest release he joins the ranks of the most fatalistic of Irish artists.
Nicol Williamson as Merlin in Excalibur (John Boorman, 1981, UK): Turning in by far the best acting in Boorman’s epic, Williamson sets the bar for all other interpretations of the Merlin character. Best known as an acclaimed stage actor with a history of incredibly unprofessional behavior, this is Williamson’s most memorable film role and will …