"Welcome to Connemara" says a roadside sign glimpsed from time to time in this entertaining movie, but this part of the west of Ireland is portrayed as being distinctly dangerous. Even prior to the opening titles there is a fatal road crash, and Guard (Irish policeman) Gerry Boyle (Brendan Gleeson) soon has a murder on his hands, a missing colleague and then a major drug- smuggling plot. In fairness to the locals the major criminals are imported, from England as well as from Dublin (almost as bad, in the opinion of the locals). Brendan is put on the case with an unlikely partner, a black American FBI agent Wendell Everett (Don Cheadle), initial animosity gradually turning to mutual respect, but they are up against bent cops as well as the ruthless psychopaths (sorry, sociopaths) of the drug gang. Just to make things more difficult for B, his mother is dying. The denouement is satisfying but there is plenty of humour along the way to offset the tension.
Brendan Gleeson is just made for the part, a country cop whose rough manner belies a crafty brain honed by years of dealing with all the environment can throw at him. It is not surprising that he drops the occasional acid, is friendly with the local IRA operative, and consorts with call-girls (in mock police uniforms) on his day off. But he is not a crook, and like the Mounties, he gets his man. He also has a softer side, as we see in the scenes with his mother. He is helped by a very funny (if very profane) script. Some of it reminded me of "Pulp Fiction" where the crims while away car journeys by discussing literary and philosophical matters (eg was Bertrand Russell Welsh? Actually, he was born in Monmouthshire which is usually regarded as part of Wales, but his family were very upper class English).
The supporting cast has great fun with all of this. Initially Don Cheadle looks like a fish out of water, but by the end blends in nicely. Mark Strong as the chief baddie is hilarious – ("you just can't get good help today"). I loved the part where he hands over some hush money to the cops, telling them exactly what it's for. Liam Cunningham as one of the Irish crooks was also authentically nasty, and the gang's chief psychopath is nicely played by Liam Wilmot.
A lot of the action seems to take place at night or in fog, which is not a great advertisement for the scenery of Connemara – the various government bodies who put money into this film won't get much of a tourist dividend. There is something very Irish about the film nonetheless. "The Guard" is almost a mythical figure, a righter of wrongs from a long tradition of Irish heroes.
Brendan Gleeson is just made for the part, a country cop whose rough manner belies a crafty brain honed by years of dealing with all the environment can throw at him. It is not surprising that he drops the occasional acid, is friendly with the local IRA operative, and consorts with call-girls (in mock police uniforms) on his day off. But he is not a crook, and like the Mounties, he gets his man. He also has a softer side, as we see in the scenes with his mother. He is helped by a very funny (if very profane) script. Some of it reminded me of "Pulp Fiction" where the crims while away car journeys by discussing literary and philosophical matters (eg was Bertrand Russell Welsh? Actually, he was born in Monmouthshire which is usually regarded as part of Wales, but his family were very upper class English).
The supporting cast has great fun with all of this. Initially Don Cheadle looks like a fish out of water, but by the end blends in nicely. Mark Strong as the chief baddie is hilarious – ("you just can't get good help today"). I loved the part where he hands over some hush money to the cops, telling them exactly what it's for. Liam Cunningham as one of the Irish crooks was also authentically nasty, and the gang's chief psychopath is nicely played by Liam Wilmot.
A lot of the action seems to take place at night or in fog, which is not a great advertisement for the scenery of Connemara – the various government bodies who put money into this film won't get much of a tourist dividend. There is something very Irish about the film nonetheless. "The Guard" is almost a mythical figure, a righter of wrongs from a long tradition of Irish heroes.