Review of The Guard (2011) by Garrett R — 17 Feb 2012

THE GUARD is a subtly funny and very Irish crime comedy with Brendan Gleeson (the man behind Mad-Eye Moody) playing a calloused, unconventional Irish cop named Sergeant Gerry Boyle alongside Don Cheadle's straight-laced FBI character Wendell Everett. With writer/director John Michael McDonagh debuting this feature, it's hard not to get enraptured by his simple, effective narrative of a seen-it-all, done-it-all Irish cop taking down a narcotics organization that has roots beyond and inside Ireland, while also caring for his mum and searching for his missing partner.

THE GUARD is most certainly a dialogue-driven comedy with elements of crime, where you have to really pay attention to the hero's sentences in order to get past the somewhat quiet and fast nature of his speech. Truthfully, it is sometimes hard to gather information from some hushed back-and-forth's, yet Boyle is so endearing one just goes along with it. Besides, Gleeson's character Sergeant Boyle gets most of the clever one-liners, and in the end is allowed to utter a classic comedic one-liner (it's hard to miss, let's leave it there).

The plot is deliberately languidly paced, as the nature of Ireland's inhabitants' lives are just that. The pace may turn or turn off viewers down the middle, but patient viewers will be rewarded with a simple and effective Irish crime comedy thati is human as it is profane (and sometimes violent).

Things appear quiet and peaceful on the surface, but there is no doubt (from what we see) that Ireland needs a police force as much as any urban city (including Dublin, with many characters uttering accurate despise for the city).

Mark Strong (the villain in ROBIN HOOD, SHERLOCK HOLMES and KICK-ASS) and Liam Cunningham (in the upcoming Game of Thrones Season 2) play the two villains. Type-cast as they are (with strong as the modern and cold type, while Cunningham is the talkative and sneaky type). Including the third character, a sociopath, these two villains talk and act like ordinary men in the field of drug trafficking, instead of over-the-top, cackling villains who dramatically exaggerate and push the limits of evil villainy.

While THE GUARD is not original in concept by any means, the fresh filmmaking execution of McDonagh's debut and nuanced performances from Gleeson and Cheadle are all THE GUARD needs to succeed on its merits as a crime comedy, which is very likably Irish. And Guinness gets a lot of good promotion here!