The Guard Film Review
Director John Michael McDonagh
Staring Brendan Gleeson, Don Cheadle, Pat Shortt
Release Date July 2011
Rating 5 Stars
The Guard is a fine example of just how laugh out loud funny Irish black humour can be. Written and directed by John Michael McDonagh (whose brother Martin directed another opus of black humour, In Bruges), the film is Based in the environs around Spideal in the West of Ireland (where McDonagh’s parents now live). It is in this windswept landscape, with its rich array of real-life characters that McDonagh saw parallels with the Wild West and so planting the seeds of this comedic masterpiece.
The star of the show is the rude, blunt Sgt Gerry Boyle, portrayed on screen by the force of nature that is Brendan Gleeson. On first appearances Boyle is just another example of a thick, bogger sergeant, and a stereotype of what one would expect in any typical Irish town in the West of Ireland. But as the film develops Gleeson portrays a character that is much more complex than he wants people to know. Gerry Boyle is someone lonely, yet someone who just wants to be left alone. Having said all that, Boyle likes the temptations of life as well, and is quite happy to spend his time off in a haze of drugs and prostitutes.
Of course his world is turned upside down, with the arrival of an international drug smuggling cartel in the area. And In typical formulaic police comedy practice, of course Boyle is partnered with his opposite. In this case it is FBI agent Wendell Everett (played by the ever brilliant Don Cheadle) who plays the role of the straight man quite brilliantly. Having an actor such as Gleeson in the starring role, Cheadle is quite happy to play second fiddle, and the chemistry between these 2 stars is excellent.
The supporting cast is quite strong as well helping to feed into the darkness of the humor. From the 3 gangsters (Liam Cunningham, David Wilmot and Mark Strong especially has a very strong screen presence), to the cameo of Pat Shortt as an IRA member, all the external characters help to accentuate the Irish character of the film, by providing a baseline, against which the eccentricities of the locals are highlighted.
From the very opening scene, right through to the end McDonagh has done a very good job in delivering dialogue, which is so witty and fluent that it must have been polished over a long time: the script is just too good to have been ad-libed on the spot. Even during the final scenes, as the film grows darker the dialogue is still sharp and clever, and at the end it is just clever enough to keep the mind ticking over once the credits have rolled.
Overall this is simply a brilliant film, one that will hold a place at the top of Irish movies for years to come. Once again Gleeson is the undoubtedly the star, and this is a perfect vehicle to highlight his array of talents. While partly playing to a certain Fr Ted image of the backwardness of rural Ireland, both the acting and script are strong enough and subtle enough to move away from any plastic “Oirish” notions, and while delivering a great film that audiences at home will love, it is also broad enough to be able to appeal to those further afield as well.
Score 5/5
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