El Guardia

Screenplay writer John Michael McDonagh's directorial debut, "The Guard" (2011) is really a fine movie, relying the least on the originality of its story, describing criminal proceedings of the group of cocaine drug-smugglers and their interaction with local police, set against the backdrop of small-town western Ireland, however, filled with crackling good dialogue, sparkling with wisecracks, accompanied with nice scenery and pleasant, unobtrusive music. But, what makes it the best is its protagonists' performances.

Brendan Gleeson is usually natural, making the character he plays fit like a glove—whether the robust and humorous loyal buddy and the warrior, as in "Braveheart" (1995), or a quiet and subdued aspiring politician, as in "Gangs of New York" (2002), or a non-supportive father, civil war volunteer-turned-deserter, as in "Cold Mountain" (2003), whether the gentle, mentoring, culture-exploring hit man in hiding, as in "In Bruges" (2008), or on the other side of the law, the grouchy police sergeant with defiant, often dissident sense of humour (provocative in one-liners like "being FBI, don't you prefer to fight unarmed women and children…"), as in this movie--and Don Cheadle, in the role of FBI agent Wendell Everett, a bit in the shade of Gleeson's Gerry Boyle, but nevertheless, sufficiently competitive ("Langley is CIA, I'm FBI…"), neat and convincing in his performance as always. (I admit to have a soft spot for this actor since his impressive role of the manager of Kigali Mille Collines hotel in the movie "Hotel Rwanda" (2004), the very same hotel I have been frequenting for two months in 1995, just a year later to tragic events described in the movie.)

To a pretty frequent movie goer like myself, who hasn't seen a single en par (or better?) leading actor in this year that is rapidly advancing towards its end, it is hard to believe that very many better acting performances could be demonstrated in the remaining two months or so. Therefore, if Brendan Gleeson does not find himself at least among top nominees for any yearly awarded film prize, I'll have a problem finding such decisions just.

As a marginal note, I was lucky to watch this movie back home in my motherland, because having it subtitled was very helpful in order not to miss any of sergeant Boyle's wisecracks, delivered often in heavy Irish accent, and to understand at all occasional lines, uttered by marginal characters, spoken completely in Gaelic. Of course, point was not to be understood by English native speakers, but it was still interesting to know what usual "advices" (if not insults) were given to English speakers, though eventually not English (as FBI agent!) at all. As Irish colleague of mine once said… "We don't sing songs in Gaelic so English people cannot understand how badly we talk about them, they know it already! We sing in Gaelic simply because that's our traditional language (N.B. official whatsoever), and songs sound much better and sweeter in it."

Sergeant Gerry Boyle is a rather unconventional police officer – and perhaps not as effective as he could be. When the FBI trace major cocaine players to his district, Boyle is surprised to find that none of them are black or Mexican, but ends up assisting FBI agent Wendell Everett who, for his money, cannot work out if Boyle is really smart or really dumb.

The scenario with The Guard makes it sound like a standard fish out of water tale (with Everett being the fish) or another buddy-cop movie where two conflicting or bickering partners come together to solve the case. True, it has things in common with this genre in its dialogue and gun-fire, but this film is much more like someone took such a genre film and handed the script to the Cohen brothers and Graham Linehan to work on. The plotting is pretty straightforward here but it is the comedy that drives it. Those looking for the easy broad laughs suggested by the trailer might be disappointed because the film is funny because it has great characters and dialogue that is infuse with a wonderful Irish melancholy. Free of sentiment, the film is funnier for it because it is just so wonderfully odd.

The heart of the film is Brendan Gleeson and he owns it. He gets his character just right and has great comic timing and delivery, making the most of the dialogue which is wonderfully shocking and funny throughout. Writer and director McDonagh did an interview recently where he was acerbic and a little too honest about his feelings about his younger brother's success, and he uses this dark edge well in his writing, as well as mixing in visual and musical references to good effect; his script is as strong when it comes to one-liner jokes as it is in regards the brutal humour of his characters unsentimental realism. I'm not sure how they got Don Cheadle on board, but he is pretty good and to his credit the Hollywood star knows that he is supporting Gleeson, which he does. The supporting cast has Cunningham and Strong as philosophising drug dealers and they are as good as the entire supporting cast because the script is great for all the characters.

Overall, The Guard is a hard film to pigeonhole because while it is essentially a mismatched cop partner comedy, it is infused with a real oddness and dry Irish no-nonsense humour that works really well. Gleeson loves every minute of it and dominates the film while everyone wisely plays their part to support him in his lead role. McDonagh does a great job and The Guard will more than help him with his sibling rivalry.

Despite the fact that I live in a bustling metropolis, all of the theaters that show smaller films are somewhere between 30 and 50 miles away. In "Dallas Traffic Time", that translates to somewhere between 90 minutes and 16 days. As a result, I don't get time to see many of these films until they come to DVD, if at all. In my experience, art house films are often the most difficult to write about and even more difficult to properly judge, particularly in the summer. When almost everything I've watched in the last three months has involved superheroes, aliens, or jokes related to bodily functions, I have a tough time transitioning to more mature and cinematic endeavors. So it is with "The Guard, a film entirely unlike anything else I saw this summer.

Sergeant Gerry Boyle (Brendan Gleeson) is an off-the-wall, somewhat crotchety veteran police officer who patrols a small Irish town. Shortly after beginning an investigation into a peculiar murder, Boyle discovers that his case is related to a major drug ring that is currently being hunted by FBI agent Wendell Everett (Don Cheadle). As straight-laced as they come, Everett is an odd pair for Boyle but the two are forced to work together to take down the cartel. When the case pulls Boyle in deeper than he would have ever imagined he is forced to reexamine his life's work and turn himself into an unlikely hero.

If that synopsis makes "The Guard" sound wholly serious, bear in mind that it is completely and totally a comedy. A dark comedy to be sure but a comedy nonetheless. If you've ever wondered what "Hot Fuzz" would be like if it was subtle and less over-the-top, "The Guard" fits the bill. This is writer/director John Michael McDonagh's first full length film but I would never have guessed it if not for the magic of IMDb. It is a witty, well-written film that makes its tone clear from the first scene. The pacing isn't exactly what I would call slow but instead calculatedly casual; it knows where it intends to go and it makes its way with balanced determination. This is a film that knows its own identity and doesn't stray from the dark comedy path more than a time or two. Its humor is smart and lively. Even with the thick accents (which probably caused me to miss a joke or two) "The Guard" is filled with exquisite dialogue and understated jokes that brought more laughs than anything from all but the very best big budget comedies this year has brought.

The plot of "The Guard" is simple but refined and that pushes all of the attention onto the characters and the actors who portray them. Cheadle is a solid straight man and as he always does, he makes the absolute most of every scene he is given. As one of the ringleaders of the drug ring, Mark Strong's character is straight out of a Guy Ritchie film, a role Strong is great at playing. Please Mr. Strong: stick to these films and stay away from popcorn crap like "Green Lantern." But despite all of the excellent actors around him, "The Guard" is all about Gleeson. His work in 2008's "In Bruges" (coincidentally directed by McDonagh's brother Martin) finally brought him the attention he deserves, but Gleeson has always been a favorite of mine, a magnificent actor who never fails to impress no matter how little screen time he is given. Boyle is a without a doubt a curmudgeon (and a slightly racist one at that) but Gleeson makes him exceedingly likable. He is a wild card, the type of guy who does the right thing when you're absolutely sure he's going to continue to disgrace himself and Gleeson pulls this off perfectly. Moreover, he once again exhibits the brilliant comedic timing that has made him one of the best and most versatile actors that Ireland has to offer. I'm not saying it's his best performance but rather another in a long string of quality portrayals that illustrate just how undervalued this guy really is.

Fun, intelligent, and genuinely hilarious, "The Guard" is an excellent departure from my typical fare this time of year. I've made no bones about the fact that I really like summer blockbusters. I love them, in fact. But when a movie like "The Guard" comes along in the midst of the "Conan the Barbarians" of the world, it serves as an incredibly refreshing reminder of what we have to hope for in the coming months.

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"The Guard" is definitely a movie to recommend. Its beautiful simplicity, provoking colors and incredibly witty lines simply make this a small masterpiece. I haven't expected a thing, but it does seem that this directorial surname becomes something to be kept close within the radar.

It has somewhat of that Warhal-like touch to it within the play of multiple strong colors and nuances, where it is visually provoking and satisfying, easy to relate and almost as easy to touch. Along with remarkable scenery and those absolutely sets details, the roles are accordingly brilliant.

Brendan is more than expectedly good and from my point of view, this might just be his best role so far (though all are excellent). The easiness and the flow make the movie a cake one swallows easily. Though grim at all times, it puts a big smile on a face from the first moment.

Unpretentious and fresh, it has a tiny nuance of early '90 movies such as "Pulp Fiction", but unlike others, the directing made it look absolutely different. It is unpredictable at all times, yet one keeps waiting for Gleeson's next line. Probably one of my favorites for some time. Will watch again, definitely.

As for the language, I have to agree with the issue - English is not my native language but it was so awful trying to watch it with those unnatural subs in English. It took half of the fun and I simply turned it off and enjoyed it, understanding it easily. Being so lost in translation, it certainly will not be as great as it really is - even one line lost is too much for such a screenplay.

I'm not an Irish, right. Yet I could identify easily with the characters and feel the ease. As for this year's movies I've seen so far, this was the biggest surprise and biggest satisfaction.

With simple soundtrack which turns out fully unexpected towards the very end - much of a "Mexican standout", "The Guard" is truly a rewarding movie and a hope that there are still ways to make fresh ones to enjoy without having to compare or predict.

Greetings again from the darkness. Writer/Director John Michael McDonagh is the brother of Martin McDonagh, who brought us the excellent In Bruges (which also starred Brendan Gleeson). I figured it best to say that upfront because there is no way to avoid comparisons of the two films. Clearly these men grew up in the same house and were trained in a brilliant method of writing dialogue.

Brendan Gleeson delivers a powerful and hilarious performance as a local cop (Garda) in rural Ireland. His Sgt Gerry Boyle is quite an enigma - he gets along great with locals, yet struggles to fit into society. This is never more apparent than when FBI Agent Wendell Everett (Don Cheadle) hits town on a drug smuggling investigation. The key to their relationship is crystallized at the moment an exasperated Agent Everett says to Boyle, 'I can't tell if you are really smart or really dumb'. Of course, I am paraphrasing because the F-word gets literally worn out in this movie. There aren't many lines I can actually quote in print. But the word rolls off Gleeson's tongue as if it's a work of art ... especially in conversation with his ailing mother, played well by the always terrific Fionnula Flanagan.

The international drug smugglers being chased are a trio led by Liam Cunningham and the always interesting Mark Strong. The endless rips, insults and jokes are fired rapidly at Americans, Brits and anyone unfortunate enough to hail from Dublin. Boyle uses his Irish background as a crutch for his racism and insensitivity. But he leaves no doubt about his expertise as a cop. Heck he even recognizes the importance of some 9 year old kid riding around on a pink bicycle. That's just another example of the off-center approach to story telling offered by McDonagh.

If you are a fan of In Bruges, Snatch, or Lock Stock and Two Smoking Barrels, I think you will enjoy this one. It falls just short of that level, but not by much. Gleeson is outstanding and the story is simple enough, yet with plenty of twist, turns and hilarity.