The Guard
starring Brendan Gleeson, Don Cheadle, Liam Cunningham, Michael Og Lane and David Wilmot
written and directed by John Michael McDonaagh
Rating: ♦◊◊◊◊
After watching him play Professor Mad-Eye Moody in the Harry Potter films, and in other projects, I wanted to see more of Brendan Gleeson, in a different film. I suppose he is a great actor, but he is an acquired taste. And anything Irish might be called an acquired taste, too. Looking at rural Irelandportrayed in this film makes me understand why people want to emigrate away and escape from it. But enough of that. The Guard refers to an Irish police officer, a Garda. The Guard is said to be the most successful independent Irish movie made to date. It is a kind of black comedy. English drug mules are getting ready to land a shipment of drugs on a deserted stretch of Irish coastline. The American FBI (Don Cheadle) is working with a rural Garda division to locate the felons. Gleeson’s police officer character is a queer, eccentric character indeed. He comes across as an Irish country bumpkin. But he is really very intelligent and clever and he knows his business in his own little corner of the world.
I like Don Cheadle, which is the main reason I rented this disc. And I’m interested in Gleeson. But The Guard should have been a much better film. The English villains are its most interesting feature.