The Guard (15) ****

Aug 21 2011 by Roz Laws, Sunday Mercury

THE GUARD (15)

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CAST: Brendan Gleeson, Don Cheadle, Liam Cunningham, Mark Strong, Fionnula Flanagan

PLOT: Sergeant Gerry Boyle (Gleeson) is a uniformed cop in rural Ireland, where not a lot happens until a drug smuggler is murdered on his patch. Then the FBI gets involved in the shape of agent Wendell Everett (Cheadle). The pair are very different but an unlikely friendship of sorts develops, as they are the only law enforcers interested in bringing drug barons Cunningham and Strong to justice. Boyle is a great laconic character, who answers the phone with the greeting ‘cop shop’, says “I’m Irish, racism is part of my culture”, sleeps with prostitutes and does business with the IRA but has a poster of Daniel O’Donnell on his wall.

GOOD POINTS: It’s written and directed by John Michael McDonagh, brother of Martin who put watchable Gleeson in the hit film In Bruges, and they share much of the same dark humour. There are lots of laugh-out-loud lines, with very sharp, acerbic dialogue. There are some serious and emotional moments too, as Boyle’s mother (Flanagan) is dying.

BAD POINTS: The plot is rather thin and good actors like Cheadle and Strong aren’t given enough to do. The whole maverick cop and mismatched buddy drama is a little clichéd, but still entertaining. Boyle’s thick accent means you don’t always catch every word.

SHOULD I SEE IT? Absolutely, unless you get offended by swearing, because there’s a lot of that.