I’m quite sure I would have enjoyed The Guard more if I understood everything that was being said. As is, some of the dialogue I did catch was priceless. Over breakfast with FBI agent Wendell Everett (Don Cheadle), Guard Gerry Boyle (Brendan Gleeson) listens patiently to Everett’s backstory and then comments “Skiing, huh? I thought black people couldn’t ski.” We get a moment for Cheadle to react, and then Gleeson perfectly deadpans, “or is that swimmin’?” My favorite dialogue in a movie replete with good stuff like this comes late in the film, with a pair of hilarious off-color Waco jokes. Is it Ok to make Waco/FBI jokes? I suppose if it isn’t, it makes it that much funnier. I imagine The Guard as one of those films people loved while they were making it. I imagine Gleeson had the time of his life being Gerry Boyle, the unabashed racist, drug abusing, drinking, whoring, yet hardnosed and good-natured local cop. This is one of my favorite performances of the year.
A trio of baddies, all well drawn and played by Liam Cunningham, David Wilmot and Mark Strong, make the foils here. The plot ain’t much, even perhaps a bit contrived – FBI looking for a $500 M drug deal in Ireland. Why do the baddies hang around … and do stuff? Doesn’t make sense. In a way, it’s kind of a relief that even well-written films have plot issues, no? Movies are hard! Let’s go shopping.
Rated R, 96 Minutes
D: John Michael McDonagh
W: John Michael McDonagh
Genre: Lone wolf study
Type of person most likely to enjoy this film: Giggling Irishmen
Type of person least likely to enjoy this film: People hard of hearing
