Indiana Jones has always had a terrific assortment of friends around the world. Characters like Sallah (John Rhys-Davies) not only make his cinematic adventures more vibrant and entertaining, but they clue us into the fact that Dr. Jones’ work has already earned him the friendship and admiration of many good people all over the globe, so he must be doing something right. Antonio, a Vatican priest, assists Indy in his latest adventure, and he’s an immediate standout, one you can tell the writers of The Great Circle put some real thought and care into developing. Not some stuffy or stereotypical figure, Antonio’s a three-dimensional person and a delight. A moral figure but not a moralizing one, he’s a man who looks with fear on the turning of political tides around the globe but still wants to be able to savor the good things in life, like that humdinger of an American record that Indy brings him as a gift.
Played terrifically by Enrico Colantoni, an actor with an impressive resumé who I’m most familiar with from his work in Galaxy Quest as Mathesar, the leader of the Thermians, Antonio is thoughtful and believable, a crucial part of The Great Circle’s wonderful globehopping, pseudo-historical texture. And so, while the game saw me laying my eyes on the pyramids of Gizeh, on ancient statues of the Buddha, and on other wonderful sights and cultural wonders, it may be that the sight I’ll remember most is that of Antonio, this keenly intelligent, kind, wonderful priest who wears hearing aids, dancing with delight to the groovy sounds of the latest hit out of New York City. — Carolyn Petit
