The Guard (2011)

An unorthodox Irish policeman with a confrontational personality is teamed up with an uptight FBI agent to investigate an international drug-smuggling ring.

Director:

John Michael McDonagh

Writer:

John Michael McDonagh

Stars:

Ronan Collins, Brendan Gleeson, Don Cheadle

Nominated for 1 Golden Globe. Another 14 wins & 23 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Ronan Collins	...	Young Man in Car
Paraic Nialand	...	Young Man in Car
John Patrick Beirne	...	Young Man in Car
Liam O'Conghaile	...	Young Man in Car
Christopher Kilmartin	...	Young Man in Car
Brendan Gleeson	...	Sergeant Gerry Boyle
Rory Keenan	...	Garda Aidan McBride
Declan Mannlen	...	James McCormick
Laurence Kinlan	...	Photographer
Michael Og Lane	...	Eugene Moloney (as Mícheál Óg Lane)
Liam Cunningham	...	Francis Sheehy-Skeffington
Owen Sharpe	...	Billy Devaney
Fionnula Flanagan	...	Eileen Boyle
Wale Ojo	...	Doctor Oleyuwo
Don Cheadle	...	FBI agent Wendell Everett

Storyline

Sergeant Gerry Boyle is a small-town Irish cop with a confrontational personality, a subversive sense of humor, a dying mother, a fondness for prostitutes, and absolutely no interest whatsoever in the international cocaine-smuggling ring that has brought straight-laced FBI agent Wendell Everett to his door.

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Plot Keywords:

fbi agent | fbi | drug smuggling | small town | derringer | 

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Taglines:

The FBI are about to discover that things work a little different around here.

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Genres:

Comedy | Crime | Thriller

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for pervasive language, some violence, drug material and sexual content

Details

Official Sites:

Official Facebook Official site

Country:

Ireland

Language:

English Irish

Release Date:

7 July 2011 (Ireland)

Also Known As:

El irlandés

Filming Locations:

Barna, County Galway, Ireland

Box Office

Budget:

$6,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend:

$76,834 (USA) (29 July 2011)

Gross:

$5,359,774 (USA) (3 February 2012)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Reprisal Films, Element Pictures, Crescendo Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

96 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Boyle's reference that "the FBI lad, probably hadn't had this much fun since they burned all those kids up in Waco" is a reference to the Waco Siege of February 1993 where the FBI led an assault on the Mount Carmel Center ranch seventy-six men, women and children including the sect leader of Branch Davidians, David Koresh, died from flames, smoke inhalation, building collapse, or gunfire.

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Goofs

(00:03:30) When Sergeant Gerry Boyle is first meeting Garda Aidan McBride at the murder scene, he stops his police car while the windshield wipers are up. In the immediate next shoot they are down.

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Quotes

Sergeant Gerry Boyle: You've taken' somethin'.
Eugene Moloney: I have not.
Sergeant Gerry Boyle: You've taken somethin'. You didn't even act surprised, for fuck sake!

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Connections

Featured in Maltin on Movies: Contraband (2012)

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Soundtracks

"The Parting Glass"
Traditional arrangements by Liam Clancy, Pat Clancy and Tommy Makem
Performed by Liam Clancy
Courtesy of the Liam Clancy Estate

User Reviews

Funny, entertaining, but flawed.

I saw this movie in Galway at the film Fleadh. Dit it entertain me? Absolutely. Would I buy it on DVD / Blu Ray ? Another yes. Funnier than The Hangover [1st film] In my opinion yes. However just like that film you have to decide very early on to suspend your disbelief and just go along for the ride.

I feel a little for John Michael McDonagh as he will no doubt always walk in the shadow of his brother. Which is a burden most writer / directors do not have to deal with. Already an early reviewer has compared it to In Bruges. I think I gave In Bruges a ten star rating. This has an eight. In Bruges - as extraordinary as it was - had a whiff of truth about it and the danger in the movie was real. Here the action is so cartoon that it generates no tension at all, and you never really fear for the characters. Of course Gleeson is in both movies and in my opinion give a much better performance in In Bruges. . Here he is just having fun. Who can blame him... The characters in The Guard are drawn with very broad brush strokes, and lack any kind of subtlety. The sub-plot involving Fionnula Flanagan feels bolted on and slows the movie down. It's intended to show the main character has a softer side, but you can get that through the thrust of the main story, and the elements are there to take advantage of this. Simple things that could have been done to add a little more realism and heart to the movie that would have generated greater emotion, depth of feeling, tension, jeopardy and ultimately bigger laughs.

At the Q & A afterward it was suggested the script was written in 13 days. Clearly that was just a first draft - but I do think subsequent drafts were not worked hard enough. As sometimes there isn't enough breathing space between the jokes... so the bigger gags / situations don't build in the way they should. Or a moment of compassion is lost because a laugh comes rolling on top of it due to a cheap gag.In that respect it feels to me as if the writer / director is still learning pace and rhythm. It's very common in comedy where a writer doesn't want to lose what he feels is a good gag - but sometimes you have to cut gag A in order to get a bigger laugh on gag B. A stronger script editor on the film could have made all the difference.

So all in all it is a bravo. I very much enjoyed the movie. I do expect John Michael McDonagh to go on to bigger and better things and I wish the movie great success. After all 8/10 is a great score.