THE GUARD - Irish Film Week

John Michael McDonagh | 2011 | Ireland United Kingdom | 1h33m | Presented in the original English audio with English subtitles

THE GUARD follows Sergeant Gerry Boyle, a small-town Garda in the west of Ireland whose methods are unorthodox, his manners are terrible, and his interest in following procedure is fairly limited. Brendan Gleeson plays Boyle as a man who seems almost deliberately designed to irritate everyone around him. When an international drug-smuggling operation reaches Galway, he’s forced to work with FBI agent Wendell Everett, played by Don Cheadle, and the clash between them becomes the engine of the film.

John Michael McDonagh builds THE GUARD as a crime comedy that keeps shifting between deadpan conversation, sudden violence and increasingly absurd behaviour. Boyle is difficult to pin down. He can be rude, offensive and apparently careless, then unexpectedly perceptive a moment later. Don Cheadle gives the film the perfect counterweight, playing Everett as a professional trying to understand whether Boyle is incompetent, eccentric or simply operating according to a completely different set of rules.

I’ve included THE GUARD because it’s one of the easiest films in the week to recommend to almost anyone. If you like IN BRUGES, you’re going to find a lot to enjoy here. The connection isn’t accidental either: THE GUARD was written and directed by John Michael McDonagh, brother of Martin McDonagh, and both filmmakers share an obvious taste for black comedy, morally questionable characters and dialogue that can turn hostile very quickly. I’m also screening CALVARY earlier in the week, which lets us see John Michael McDonagh and Brendan Gleeson working together in two completely different registers.

THE GUARD became a major success on release and remains one of the most internationally recognised Irish comedies of the 2010s. Gleeson received a Golden Globe nomination for Best Actor in a Musical or Comedy, while McDonagh received widespread recognition for his screenplay and feature directing debut. The film also became one of the highest-grossing independent Irish films at the Irish box office. It’s funny, rude, extremely quotable and I hope very good way to finish Irish Film Week.