Review of The Guard (2011) by Alan T — 19 Jun 2012
The directorial debut of writer John Michael McDonagh (whose brother Martin McDonagh did In Bruges (2008), and produced this one), this is a black comedy which ended up become the most successful independent film in Ireland.
It's a film with stuff you shouldn't even be laughing at, but at it's heart, it's a good twist on the buddy-cop film, set in a very original location. On the west coast of Ireland in Connemara Gaeltacht, Sergeant Gerry Boyle (Brendan Gleeson) works for the Garda SÃochána, (the Irish police), and there's been a rather grisly murder in the neighbourhood, where the number 5 1/2 was left smeared in blood on a wall.
At a high ranking police briefing, FBI Agent Wendell Everett (Don Cheadle) attends, explaining that a boat leaving the Dominican Republic with $500 million worth of drugs, ("that's half a billion lads"), is thought to be heading for Ireland, and Everett finds himself teamed up with Boyle, who has an unorthodox way of going about business, but it's not long before they find the villians in Francis Sheehy-Skeffington (Liam Cunningham) and Clive Cornell (Mark Strong), but nothing is as simple as it looks.
It's very funny but also very violent with lots of strong language around as well, but Gleeson and Cheadle make a good team, both from different backgrounds, but they click. It makes the most of it's locations in Galway, and it acts like a character in the film itself.
This review of The Guard (2011) was written by Alan T on 19 Jun 2012.
The Guard has generally received positive reviews.
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