The Guard
2011 Directed by John Michael McDonagh
Synopsis
The FBI are about to discover that things work a little differently around here.
An unorthodox Irish policeman with a confrontational personality is teamed up with an uptight FBI agent to investigate an international drug-smuggling ring.
Cast
Popular reviews
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Berken's 30 Countries Challenge film #4-Ireland
John McDonagh's black comedy is dominated by a stellar performance from Brendan Gleeson, an actor that just oozes class. His turn as Gerry Boyle has all the hallmarks of greatness. From his sarcasm and penchant for a drink and the ladies,he is so laid back he's almost horizontal. That however is just a ruse as he uses his razor sharp brain to stunning effect in helping uptight FBI agent Don Cheedle uncover a drug ring.
Giving a stereotypical Irish portrayal of darkly black humour mixed with an acerbic wit that pushes the boundaries of both taste and conformity,Boyle gets most of the best lines. Racist,insensitive and with no tact whatsoever,Boyle is simply hilarious. His… -
"What a beautiful f**king day." - Sergeant Gerry Boyle
Brendan Gleeson should really get more work. He's one of the most underrated actors working today, for sure. But he's at his best when he's teamed up with the McDonagh Brothers. Working wonders in Martin's In Bruges as a sad-sack hitman with a heart, he equals his work there with what is effectively the Irish Bad Lieutenant in John Michael's The Guard.
Sergeant Gerry Boyle is also a character that should get more work. And more credit, for that matter. He's simply one of the best comedy characters of the past few years. Grumpy, surly, sweary, casually racist, idiotic yet startlingly perceptive at times; he's an effortlessly funny character, and achieves…
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"Now now, lads. Not in front of the American."
It's pretty hard not to immediately hold The Guard up to In Bruges, what with both of those films sharing Brendan Gleeson and directors from the same family. But once you actually start watching it, it's a different beast altogether. Not quite as satisfactory, perhaps, but pretty damn close and a super little film in its own right.
Gleeson plays a small town Irish copper who, after being lumbered with a new partner from Dublin, starts to find his world crumbling around him as prostitutes, drug dealers, gun runners, the imminent death of his mother, and the arrival of an FBI agent (Don Cheadle) conspire to make his life more miserable.…
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Boooooooooo. What an overrated movie.
Someone tell whoever wrote this that you can't write lame non-joke "jokes" and call it dark comedy. There were a few good laughs in here but the majority of it is dull, especially the first 15-20 minutes which had me thinking about turning it off.
Gleeson is good, Cheadle is ok, but this movie isn't very good. I wouldn't quite call it bad, but it's not too far away. The plot revolves around Gleeson's small Irish town that he is the police seargant of, and Cheadle's FBI agent who comes looking for some big time drug dealers.
It never gets too serious in tone. A few good supporting characters don't get much attention. The movie is poorly paced and there are some useless side plots. Skip it unless you want to try to find whatever the critics saw in this.
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Enjoyable dark comedy in the vein of In Bruges (though perhaps not quite as good). Proves that Gleeson can carry a film, but then again, was that ever in question?
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The Guard is essentially a screwball comedy wrapped in an Irish gangster movie blanket. The dialogue is incredibly fast paced and witty, with the performances matching. Everyone involved, led by the always fantastic Brendan Gleeson, is on board and looks like they are having a blast.
This is not as tightly constructed or written nor as serious as something like obvious comparisons such as In Bruges, Layer Cake, or Lock, Stock. However, I really don't think that it was trying to be that way.
A worthy entry and definitely worth checking out if you are a fan of the genre.
Recent reviews
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Playing with the police procedural with a lot of success, it's fun it's fresh, and Gleeson is amazing. They play with the character playing dumb and deeply flawed, and instead of having the character grow and address his flaws, in the end he engages and fixes things because he is forced into it.
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Een druilerige dag ergens te midden het Brugse patrimonium. Terwijl de maartse buien door het zwerk klieven zitten Colin Farrell en Brendan Gleeson aan een tafeltje in een aftandse kroeg. Brugge dient vandaag als decor voor de opnames van de gitzwarte misdaadkomedie ‘In Bruges’ van Martin McDonagh en ondergetekende is vandaag figurant, edelmoedige schermvulling die de achtergrond moet opfleuren. Terwijl de camera loopt hou ik me aan de afspraken die de second-unit director me had opgedragen: “drink van je pintje en doe alsof je aan het keuvelen bent met de ravissante rosse tegenover je”. Het alcoholvrije gerstenat veroorzaakt een sanitair oponthoud en net wanneer ik over de urinoir sta gebogen komt Brendan Gleeson binnen wandelen. De Ierse klassebak die reeds…
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Film #11, Country #11 (Ireland) in the 30 Countries in 30 Days Challenge
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Ummm, I am not sure if this is the same movie other people said was so great, but this movie was boring as he**. I don't know if I was just in a bad mood or what, but I had a veryhard time paying attention to this movie.
I struggled for two days trying to get through the whole thing.
There is the occasional funny scene Brendan Gleeson. He is a great actor and I do appreciate his work, but moreso in a supporting role. I am not quite sure he can carry a movie. Don Cheadle gave a solid performance as well, but the story was just lacking and rather droll.
Overall, very unimpressed.
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Had a movie night that started with Bait (2012), and with everyone in a pretty upbeat mood we decided to continue along the lighthearted path with The Guard. Surprisingly funny, both Brendan Gleeson and Don Cheadle are very good. I personally would have liked a little more focus on the buddy cop element, but that aside this was still a decent film with an interesting ending.
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Pretty god damn funny, I generally enjoy Irish comedies. Bredan Gleeson is such a grumpy rude prick fuck it's awesome.
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Brendan Gleeson is just perfect.
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Berken's 30 Countries Challenge film #4-Ireland
John McDonagh's black comedy is dominated by a stellar performance from Brendan Gleeson, an actor that just oozes class. His turn as Gerry Boyle has all the hallmarks of greatness. From his sarcasm and penchant for a drink and the ladies,he is so laid back he's almost horizontal. That however is just a ruse as he uses his razor sharp brain to stunning effect in helping uptight FBI agent Don Cheedle uncover a drug ring.
Giving a stereotypical Irish portrayal of darkly black humour mixed with an acerbic wit that pushes the boundaries of both taste and conformity,Boyle gets most of the best lines. Racist,insensitive and with no tact whatsoever,Boyle is simply hilarious. His… -
This is quite entertaining. And the camera work is clever. You never know what you are going to see next.
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It's hard not to compare the work of John and Martin McDonagh when their output is so similar to one another in tone, style and structure that it's hard to tell where one ends and the other begins.
In that regard, as enjoyable as a somewhat dark buddy cop movie The Guard is, it's impossible for it to not suffer from being in the shadow of the far superior In Bruges.
Both movies are dark, In Bruges is darker. Both movies are funny, In Bruges is funnier. Both movies have a central partnership at their center, but In Bruges has a far better realized central partnership at its center, with Don Cheadle completely wasted here. Both movies have pithy self-aware…