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Friday, August 5, 2011

MOVIE REVIEW
The Guard
A Fish Called Wendell, In The Heat Of An Irish Night


Don Cheadle as FBI Special Agent Wendell Everett in John Michael McDonagh's crime comedy "The Guard".  Sony Classics
  
by Omar P.L. Moore/PopcornReel.com        FOLLOW                                            TWEET
Friday, August 5, 2011

John Michael McDonagh writes and directs "The Guard", set in the Irish countryside.  Two murders, one of a possible FBI informant, rock the evergreen nation.  FBI Special Agent Wendell Everett (Don Cheadle) arrives in County Galway to investigate.  The locals look at him as a novelty.  The biggest fly in Wendell's ointment is Sergeant Gerry Boyle (Brendan Gleeson), an unorthodox, wise-cracking Irish Garda officer investigating the murders and a drug trafficking operation, with police corruption afoot in the Garda ranks. 

"The Guard" puts its own stamp on the police-buddy drama genre, avoiding romanticism but rarely taking itself seriously.  Mr. McDonagh's dank, entertaining film is about observations.  Characters constantly make them, and make fun of them.  Hit-men philosophize in ways that would make Roger Avary and Quentin Tarantino proud.  Characters repeat things because the things they hear are outlandish, not because disbelieving characters don't understand what each other say. 

Cheeky, playful and filled with fine performances, "The Guard" has a delightful self-consciousness about its atmosphere.  Some of the film's neurotic characters are very uncomfortable, or at least look at any moment like they're treading on eggshells or landmines.  The characters devote as much time to stereotyping and discussing stereotypes as they do their functions.  Mr. McDonagh knows these characters well and has full confidence in their uncertainties and proficiencies.  He mocks them.  They mock themselves.  None of what is said is mean-spirited.  The characters love what they do, and "The Guard" enjoys mocking, referencing and exploding the clichés in the police drama genre it patrols.  Pop-culture and trivia aren't off-limits, either.

At the heart of this tidy little comedy-drama is Mr. Gleeson's unrestrained fervor as Gerry Boyle.  One of Mr. Gleeson's best performances, Boyle is a carefree but calculating police officer.  Boyle enjoys what he does, and he's been doing it for a while.  He's old guard, not old fool.  He's just biding his time when he works.  He knows what to do, and we can see it a mile away even if his intended targets do not.  Mr. McDonagh's script lays out the idiosyncracies of its bumbling, nervy types so well that we understand why some of them don't see what's coming their way.  It's clever, not convenient plotting. 

Mr. Cheadle plays the straight man, a second fiddle to Mr. Gleeson, a fish out of water in this odd couple cop caper.  Mr. Cheadle's Wendell spends much time refuting some of the film's anything-goes commentary.  He's the film's lone corrective voice amidst the off-beat inquiry surrounding him.  The two lead actors' scenes together don't have the snap and bite that Sidney Poitier and Rod Steiger's did in "In The Heat Of The Night" but you can sense that both their characters (and the director) probably watched that film a number of times.  Mr. Cheadle and Mr. Gleeson are the perfect oil-and-water combination, and they work well together.

"The Guard", a smart, frisky film, kept me laughing.  Mr. McDonagh, the brother of Martin McDonagh ("In Bruges", also with Mr. Gleeson), demonstrates that routine isn't just routine.  Far from it.


Brendan Gleeson as Gerry Boyle in John Michael McDonagh's crime comedy "The Guard".  Sony Classics

With: Liam Cunningham, Mark Strong, Fionnula Flanagan, David Wilmot, Darren Healy, Katarina Cas, Rory Keenan, Dominique McElligott, Sarah Greene, Pat Shortt.

"The Guard" is rated R by the Motion Picture Association Of America for pervasive language, some violence, drug material and sexual content.  In English and Gaelic languages with English subtitles.  The film's running time is one hour and 42 minutes.

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