Writer: John Michael McDonagh (Screenplay)
Starring: Brendan Gleeson, Don Cheadle, Mark Strong, Liam Cunningham
Plot: An unorthodox Irish policeman with a confrontational personality is partnered with an up-tight F.B.I. agent to investigate an international drug-smuggling ring.
There may be spoilers the rest of the review
Verdict: Darkly Comic Crime Comedy
Story: The Guard starts as we meet slacker but smart Irish small town police officer Gerry Boyle (Gleeson) who is happen just to clean up crime scenes than solve the crime when it comes to the petty ones. When his small village has a surprise murder and the number 5 and half written in blood on the wall.
This case brings FBI agent Wendell Everett (Cheadle) from America to track down the drug shipment that went missing and is believed to be in Ireland. This brings us the unlikely pairing of Gerry and Wendell from two different worlds trying to track down drug dealer Francis Sheehy-Skeffington (Cunningham) who is hiding out in the village.
Thoughts on The Guard
Story – If you were to bottle down this story it is just an odd couple crime comedy tracking down drug smugglers which is all fine and an enjoyable watch throughout. I have said before I am happy with simple stories and this is just that we get good characters and fun moments and is one that can be enjoyed by all.
Comedy/Crime – We get comedy from the odd couple crime story going on which has laughs from start to finish with mostly inappropriate comments from Gerry.
Characters/Performance – Gerry is a great addition to the comedic police officer genre that has many but this one is great fun to watch as you don’t know how inappropriate he will be with his latest comments. The FBI agent Wendell plans the straight honest character who is great at reacting to the comments. The bad guys are all played to be what we expect from the genre with the local drug dealer turned international drug smugglers.
Looking at the performance Brendan Gleeson and Don Cheadle make for a great partnership for comedy that you feel you could watch again and again, when you look at Cunningham and Strong they both enjoy taking the villainous roles.
Settings – Having the film set in a small Irish village adds to the comedy between local and outsider from the FBI agent but this is a village not used to crime.
Final Thoughts – This really is a darkly comic crime film that can be enjoyable by all.
Overall: Entertaining Irish crime comedy that will make you laugh at all the right points.
Rating