The Guard

Synopsis: Sergeant Gerry Boyle (Brendan Gleeson) is the law in a small Irish village. He’s highly unorthodox, but nobody seems to mind. When the FBI sends Agent Wendell Everett (Don Cheadle) to assist in busting a drug smuggling operation, the two mismatched lawmen must find a way to get along in time to stop the smugglers.

An Irish take on the mismatched buddy cop genre, The Guard is quite conventional in its form. There’s nothing surprising in the plot, the quirky village thing has been done to death by what must be at least a dozen BBC TV series, and Don Cheadle’s presence is almost unnecessary save for a few fish-out-of-water jokes and a chance to play with the familiar tropes of the Lethal Weapon variety. But despite being extremely conventional in form, it’s original in delivery. The tone of the film is very much in keeping with its main character, taking the piss while surveying the situation and acknowledging the nastiness going on. Black comedy isn’t always the easiest thing to get right, but director McDonagh clearly knows his stuff, and only occasionally puts a foot wrong.

The only real complaint here is the villains. They’re nasty, but they’re also prone to argue over philosophy and such. It pushes the quirk factor a little too high over into the self-consciously smart-alec, rather that staying in the genial and entertaining. For a film that rides the line pretty hard, it’s forgivable and it only happens a few times, but it pulls you out of a story that otherwise is quite engaging. But really, the story is only a crutch for the comedy. And this is a film that will have you chuckling almost all the way through.

Over his career, bar John Boorman's 1998 film The General Brendan Gleeson has rarely been given the chance to stand centre stage. In The Guard, he’s out-front and gleefully cheeky. Gerry Boyle is a wonderful comedic character, forever taking the piss and running rings around everyone else, or at least giving the impression that he might be. And really, that’s all there is to the film, but it’s no bad thing. If it weren’t for Gleeson’s performance, it would be a no-brainer to make this a three star film. But Brendan Gleeson is both bloody funny and loveable and elevates a good film into great crowd-pleasing fun.

 

 

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