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| Fox Searchlight Pictures |
Father James Lavelle (Brendan Gleeson) presides as the local priest at a small Catholic church in a small, picturesque Irish city by the sea. With high, green rolling hills and narrow, cobble stone roads leading down to the water and through the town, it looks like something out of a poem or travel guide for visiting the green isle. The idea of Lavelle's character and role in the town sounds like something even more poetic, but the reality of his mission and life is far less romantic and much more tiresome than one would think. For he is surrounded by a motley crew of parishioners and citizens, none of whom seem to show any actual interest in the church or faith. In fact, there seems to be a general feeling of resentment towards the Catholic church even though Lavelle insists time and again that he does not pretend to speak for or represent the entire church.
