The Guard (2011)

An unorthodox Irish policeman with a confrontational personality is partnered with an up-tight F.B.I. agent to investigate an international drug-smuggling ring.

Director:

John Michael McDonagh

Writer:

John Michael McDonagh

Stars:

Brendan Gleeson, Don Cheadle, Mark Strong

Nominated for 1 Golden Globe. Another 17 wins & 27 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	...	Gerry Boyle
Rory Keenan	...	Aidan McBride
Declan Mannlen	...	James McCormick (as Declan Mannion)
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:

number five and a half | shot in the head | riding a bicycle with training wheels | interrogation | drinking from a flask | 

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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

Did You Know?

Trivia

The boat wanted by the police and containing the drugs is called the "Annabel Lee", ostensibly named for the poem written in 1849 by Edgar Allan Poe.

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Goofs

The diner Boyle meets the prostitute in is one of the "Eddie Rocket's" chain. They are joined by Francis Sheehy, carrying a bottle of "Corona Extra" beer. However, no alcoholic beverages are served at Eddie Rocket's at any time.

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Quotes

[first lines]
Sergeant Gerry Boyle: [red car speeds past his speed trap, tires screech, car crashes]
Sergeant Gerry Boyle: [finds drugs in the pocket of dead teen] I don't think your mammy would be too pleased about that now.
Sergeant Gerry Boyle: [walks aside and swallows one of the pills] What a beautiful fuckin' day.

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Connections

Featured in Maltin on Movies: Cowboys & Aliens (2011)

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Soundtracks

The Humours of Glin
Traditional
Performed by Liam Clancy, Pat Clancy and Tommy Makem

User Reviews

fantastic dry comedy with comical racism

For everyone who saw and loved In Bruges, have I got the next movie for you…The Guard. This is a fantastic piece of cinema brought to us by John Michael McDonagh, the brother of Martin McDonagh, who was writer/director of In Bruges. This is the first major film directed by John Michael McDonagh and it does not disappoint.

Set in western Ireland, The Guard begins aerial view of a drunk driver cruising down the highway at high speeds. Right from the start it's easy to understand where the humor will come from – Brendan Gleeson, who also played a large role in In Bruges. The car goes out of frame, skids, squeals, and crashes in front of Gleeson's patrol car. Oh, did I mention he's a cop this time? Quite the role reversal. The crash wakes him – slowly – from his day dream and he pulls up to check out the scene. After rummaging through the pockets of one of the people in the car he finds a bag of drugs, which he tosses away from the body, though, not before dropping a tablet of acid for himself. Cut to introductory credits.

If this doesn't get you off, leave the theatre and begin questioning your understanding of what's funny. The rest of the movie is comprised of smartass remarks and brilliant dry humor.

Don Cheadle plays a straight laced, by the books, FBI agent from the States investigating a drug smuggling scheme that's rumored to be happening in the area. These two must work together to find crack an overlapping case (Cheadle's looking for the drug lords, Gleeson's looking for murder suspects – the same people). It's a good buddy-cop narrative between the two and they work really well together.

I don't want to gush too much more over this movie, just go see it. I'll leave you with a quote that should depict a fair picture about the humor in this movie: Gleeson: I'm Irish. Racism is part of my culture.

See this movie. Until next time folks, cheers!

Details

Official Sites:

Official Facebook Official site

Country:

Ireland

Language:

English Irish

Release Date:

7 July 2011 (Ireland)

Also Known As:

The Guard

Filming Locations:

Wicklow Harbour, Co. Wicklow, Ireland

Box Office

Budget:

$6,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$76,834, 31 July 2011

Gross USA:

$5,360,274

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$19,561,904

Company Credits

Production Co:

Reprisal Films, Element Pictures, Hindsight Media

Technical Specs

Runtime:

96 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1