Jackson Booth-Millard I had seen the poster and DVD cover for this British film many times, so I knew the leading Irish actor of the title, it had positive reviews by critics also, so I looked forward to trying it for myself. Basically Sergeant Gerry Boyle (Golden Globe nominated Brendan Gleeson) is an eccentric and unorthodox Irish police officer working for the Garda Síochána in a small town in Connemara, in the west of Ireland, confrontational personality, a subversive sense of humour, and a regular indulgence in prostitutes, drugs and alcohol, whilst on duty, but he does have a soft side as well, his mother Eileen (The Others' Fionnula Flanagan) is dying. Boyle has absolutely no interest in the international cocaine-smuggling and trafficking ring whatsoever, but that is what has brought American straitlaced and humourless FBI agent Wendell Everett (Don Cheadle) to Ireland, he is leading an investigation to catch a gang of dangerous drug traffickers attempting to pull of a high profit deal. This turns into a fish-out-of-water partnership between Boyle and Everett, due to a fellow officer of Boyle's disappearing, they team up to catch these criminals, with different approaches to getting the job done, Boyle is a maverick with no moral code, while Everett is more professional. Also starring Liam Cunningham as Francis Sheehy-Skeffington, David Wilmot as Liam O'Leary, Rory Keenan as Aidan McBride, Mark Strong as Clive Cornell, Dominique McElligott as Aoife O'Carroll, Sarah Greene as Sinead Mulligan and Katarina Cas as Gabriela McBride. Gleeson excels as the foul-mouthed anti-hero, Cheadle does well as the on-point FBI agent disrupting the easy life of the title character, this is essentially an alternative cop-buddy movie, it is definitely all about Gleeson's character, a dreadful policeman slowly showing deeper humanity, the investigation and action sequences are worthwhile as well, all in all it is a gritty and amusing comedy thriller. It was nominated the BAFTA for Best Original Screenplay. Very good!

begob I like this kind of humour, but the movie doesn't pull it off.Gleeson is good as the lead character - a man who reflects on life in his own way and says what he sees without concern for what others think. He's also a loner, but with emotional ties that come out in various relationships - although without much depth.The rest is put together quite loosely even though the plot is straightforward. The dead cop's wife was a mystery - there was some emotional connection with the lead character, but it just trailed off. I was thinking she might be part of the gang, but ... nothing, so there was no plot reason for her presence.Also it's a short movie but there's stuff that could have been cut, and scenes that didn't need so many actors.A lot of the scenes are artless, so they have to be carried by the humour. I got a few laughs, but there was something in the pace and the lack of layering of the story that made those laughs isolated.I know the story is tongue in cheek, but more emotion might have brought the laughs together.

tomgillespie2002 To paraphrase The Guard's FBI Agent Wendell Everett (Don Cheadle), this movie is either really motherf****n' smart, or really motherf****n' dumb. Having laughed my way throughout the majority of it, my feet are firmly in the former camp, with Brendan Gleeson's towering performance and writer/director John Michael McDonagh's extremely witty script make this one of the most under-appreciated movies of 2011. It is, on the surface, a simple fish out of water story crossed with a mismatched buddy comedy. But with a self awareness that brings to mind Kiss Kiss Bang Bang (2005), The Guard often feels like it's more intelligent than it's letting on, similar in many ways to it's morally shady protagonist.Gerry Boyle (Gleeson) is not your everyday Garda (Gaelic for 'policeman') . As he expressionlessly watches a car load of weed- toking yoofs crash and die, he helps himself to the insides of their pockets and finds some acid, which he promptly swallows without thinking twice. He cares about his terminally ill mother, so we know he's at least not all bad. His laid-back attitude to law enforcement is threatened by the arrival of the eager Aidan McBride (Rory Keenan) from Dublin, as well as a murder that may point to the work of an occult serial killer. There's also more drugs on the streets than ever before, but Gerry enjoys those almost as much as he enjoys his hookers.If the witty yet crass dialogue spouting from this grumpy collections of Irishmen sounds somewhat familiar, then this is probably because John Michael's brother Martin McDonagh penned and directed In Bruges (2008), which also starred Gleeson. In my opinion, The Guard is better and certainly funnier. Most of the humour stems from Gerry himself and the way he plays with the characters he interacts with as much as the audience themselves. With the news that international drug traffickers are heading to Connemara to make a multi-million (or billion, no-one seems to know) dollar deal, FBI Agent Everett arrives to brief the guard's on the situation. When the dealers appear on the projector as Liam Cunningham and Mark Strong, Gerry's response is "But I thought all drug-dealers were black?".It may seem somewhat bad taste humour, but the way Gleeson delivers his lines, and the reaction by Cheadle (who plays the straight-man extremely well), make for comedy gold. Gerry is everything Everett despises - bigoted, ignorant - but the loathing changes to curiosity as he witnesses Gerry do some good police work and appears to be the only one who cares. Is he putting on an act to catch people off- guard? Is he really an idiot with a natural instinct for detective work? Or is he a bit both? I can forgive it's formulaic shoot-out ending for suspicion that it may be mocking the type of films it's emulating. After all, this is a fish-out-of-water-story where the main character verbally acknowledges that he's in a fish-out-of- water story. I'm sticking with really motherf****n' smart.www.the-wrath-of-blog.blogspot.com

ioexcept Let me begin by saying if you are easily offended - this movie is not for you. Secondly, the first 20 minutes are a little painful as they setup Boyle's character. The movie is great and comes together really well by the end. If you're having a night in, pour yourself a tall glass of milk and grab a few brownies. This wont disappoint and its nice to see the likable, non- Hollywood (bulging arms, 6-pack, model face) protagonist ... no spoilers here :)The most common way people give up their power is by thinking they don't have any. –Alice Walker