Cal **** (1984, Helen Mirren, John Lynch, Donal McCann) – Classic Movie Review 9878

Director Pat O’Connor’s 1984 thriller Cal stars John Lynch as Cal, the 19-year-old unemployed Catholic IRA man in Ulster, who falls for Catholic woman Marcella (Helen Mirren), widow of the Protestant policeman he has reluctantly helped to murder a year earlier.

Cal is gripping as a thriller, revealing as a character study and heartrending as a love story, with a thoughtfully written screenplay (by the source novel’s author Bernard MacLaverty).

An exciting tale is filmed with flair and tightness by director Pat O’Connor. But finally it is a showcase for two distinguished performances, and Lynch would look even better if he was not outclassed by a particularly on-form Mirren, who won the Best Actress award at the Cannes Film Festival in 1984 and at the Evening Standard British Film Awards in 1985. There is also a notable soundtrack by Mark Knopfler.

Also in the cast are Donal McCann, John Kavanagh, Ray McAnally, Stevan Rimkus, Kitty Gibson, Louis Rolston, Tom Hickey, Seamus Ford, Edward Byrne, Aubrey Johnson and Brian Munn.

The main setting is County Antrim in Northern Ireland.

© Derek Winnert 2020 Classic Movie Review 9878

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