Slothful, sardonic, corrupt, Sergeant Gerry Boyle thinks nothing of interfering with a crime scene, removing evidence of drugs from a car crash or drinking in the local pub whilst on duty.
In the small west coast town of Connemara, he alone determines what’s what. Until a dead body turns up in a local holiday home at the same time a new young officer is transferred from Dublin – and who promptly disappears within 24 hours.
Not that Boyle is unduly concerned with the disappearance or the murder – he’s booked a day’s leave and paid for a couple of hookers to travel down from Dublin. Not even the tie-in with a major international drug smuggling ring, the millions of dollars of cocaine heading for the coastline or the arrival of FBI agent Wendell Everett will interfere with Boyle’s plans.
The Guard is a routine story of drug smuggling, murderous crooks, corrupt police, blackmail and cultural and ethnic differences.
But what distinguishes it within its genre is the sublime, screwball and at times profane humour alongside a superb central performance by Brendan Gleeson, ably supported by Don Cheadle as the federal agent.
In the rural, Gaelic-speaking west coast of Ireland, an American – and an African-American one at that – is a total fish-out-of-water. The different work ethic of the two men highlights further differences.
But Boyle, the loveable larrikin, is a local and he knows the ways of Connemara. He knows not to rely on the support of the Garda – particularly those sent from Dublin. He also knows to rely on local information, even if it’s supplied by an eight year-old boy.
As the two men begrudgingly team up, more murders and blackmail follow as the boat and its valuable shipment approaches the Irish coastline.
John Michael McDonagh
In his debut feature film as writer/director John Michael McDonagh has created one of the most memorable loveable corrupt cops of recent time. The plot is almost secondary, with Gleeson rarely off the screen.
Like his younger brother, hugely successful playwright and screenwriter Martin (In Bruges), John Michael McDonagh has invested time and energy into character development and dialogue with all its acerbic and irascible wit to huge effect.
The result is a film that belongs to Gleeson.
Personal rating: 4 stars
The Guard
- Directed by John Michael McDonagh (The Second Death – short)
- Written by John Michael McDonagh (Ned Kelly, The Second Death – short)
- Produced by Chris Clark (And Soon the Darkness, Johnny English Reborn), Flora Fernandez-Marengo (Patagonia, The Second Death – short), Ed Guiney (Death of a President, Disco Pigs), Andrew Lowe (All Good Children, Cracks)
- Starring Brendan Gleeson (In Bruges, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire), Don Cheadle (Crash, Ocean’s Eleven), Mark Strong (Kick-Ass, Sherlock Holmes)
Keith Lawrence - Published writer of articles in magazines, newspapers and websites, predominantly on culture, alongside ghostwriter/editor/copywriter.
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