Review of The Guard (2011) by Stevenf — 23 Jun 2013

A dark and often hilarious comedy that relies on the charm of the Irish nature and person, or lack thereof.

The working success of The Guard is it doesn't trade itself in fro a Hollywood payday, but maintains its roots and works off the gullible but serious charisma and country attitude of the Irish. It is never trying to forward or make the characters more likeable, but keeps the comedy rolling right to the end, regardless of how far each character has come.Each and every character we run into from Sergeant Gerry Boyle (Brendan Gleeson) to the Irish-only speaking couple ("Go to England if you want to speak English") has some comical and deadpan stroke of genius to come along with them.

Gerry is a a set in his ways old timer who is crude, unintentionally racist and seemingly bored with his quiet job, his confrontational attitude gets him in all sorts of trouble when the FBI, led by Wendell (Don Cheadle), are unhappy with his very different approach to policing.

The comedy is dark and offensively brilliant at every turn, with much of the dialogue sometimes being almost untranslatable, which seems a deliberate device used to paint over the obscenity of what is actually being said. This is of course expertly lead by Gleeson, whose expression rarely changes and his straight and serious face adds to the hilarity, especially how in the face of danger, he will have you laughing, in a situation where it calls for emotion, it is the entire opposite.The surprising duo of Gleeson and Cheadle is dynamic and well thought of, with Gleeson's Boyle making a quip about his partner.

Much like the reactions of Mark Strong's character in the, many will be baffled to the absurdity and nature of the Irish humour and sometimes naivety, some of the film might just be understood by us on the tiny green island.

The strong, unique and comedic cast have created a welcome surprise of a film, and regardless of the big names that have been tapped to star, Gleeson stays very Irish in the film while Cheadle never forgets he is American, it is a quotable and crude journey of hilarity and a true gem, the only drawback being that it just didn't go on for lone enough.