The Guard

 The Guard (from Weird and Wonderful II: Fifty More Cult Films by George Hughes, available from www.freefall-productions.com) 

2011 / Ireland / 96 minutes

“I’m Irish, sure. Racism’s a part of my culture.”

Director: John Michael McDonagh / Screenplay: John Michael McDonagh / Director of Photography: Larry Smith / Music: Calexico / Production: Chris Clark, Ed Guiney, Flora Fernandez-Marengo and Martin McDonagh for Reprisal Films / Cast: Brendan Gleeson (Sergeant Gerry Boyle), Don Cheadle (Agent Wendell Everett), Liam Cunningham (Francis Sheehy-Skeffington), Mark Strong (Clive Cornell), David Wilmot (Liam O’Leary), Katarina Cas (Gabriela McBride), Pat Short (Colum), Fionnula Flanagan (Eileen Boyle), Rory Keenan (Aiden McBride), Micheal Og Lane (Eugene).

Sergeant Gerry Boyle (Brendan Gleeson), an officer of the Garda Siochana in Connemara, appears a lazy and ineffective enforcer of the law to his colleagues due to his frequent drinking on the job, occasional indulgence in drugs confiscated from suspects and his “Penchant for the whores”. Sarcastic, confrontational and generally disillusioned with his job, Boyle is partnered with visiting FBI agent Wendell Everett (Don Cheadle) to investigate Francis Sheehy-Skeffington’s (Liam Cunningham) cocaine smuggling operation.

   A serious, professional African American, Everett is the object of much fascination and pisstaking among the locals but- after some initial distrust and hostility- builds up a surprisingly effective working relationship with Boyle. Boyle is simultaneously investigating the disappearance of his previous partner Aiden McBride (Rory Keenan) on behalf of McBride’s wife, Gabriela (Katarina Cas) as well as caring for his dying mother, Eileen (Fionnula Flanagan).

    Eventually discovering that McBride was murdered by Skeffington and his gang, Boyle and Everett also find out that the smugglers have paid off all the other officers on the case. Obtaining an arsenal of firearms from an IRA weapons dump, Boyle persuades Everett that they’ll have to take on Skeffington alone…

    A brilliant culture clash / buddy cop comedy from writer / director John Michael McDonagh (brother of Martin McDonagh, who directed Gleeson in 2008’s In Bruges), The Guard is a brilliant combination of uniquely Irish humour and American- style police procedural. At its centre is the instant classic creation of Gerry Boyle, a kind of cross between Harvey Keitel in Bad Lieutenant and Father Ted.

   McDonagh’s deceptively clever script is full of memorably funny characters and addictive dialogue, all performed by a top notch cast. Mark Strong is particularly good as the smuggling gang’s permanently bad tempered token Englishman, a cold- blooded killer who objects to heavy lifting work. Katarina Cas- who’d get a brief but memorable role in Scorsese’s The Wolf of Wall Street a couple years later, also does a good job in one of the more serious roles.

   What makes the film though, is the pairing of Gleeson and Cheadle. Their interplay is outstanding as the two very different investigators get to know and like each other. The straight-laced Everett’s often nonverbal reactions to some of Boyle’s more outrageous statements (“Half a billion dollars? What street are you buying your cocaine on? Because it’s certainly not the same street I buy my cocaine on!” are priceless. With the obligatory Catholic business added in too, it makes you wonder if Abel Ferrara’s initial concept of Bad Lieutenant as a comedy could have worked after all…