The Guard (2011)
Average Rating: 7.7/10
Reviews Counted: 121
Fresh: 115 | Rotten: 6
A violent, crackerjack comedy with a strong Irish flavor and an emminently likable Brendan Gleeson in the main role.
Average Rating: 7.5/10
Critic Reviews: 30
Fresh: 28 | Rotten: 2
A violent, crackerjack comedy with a strong Irish flavor and an emminently likable Brendan Gleeson in the main role.
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Average Rating: 3.9/5
User Ratings: 22,887
Movie Info
The Guard is a comedic fish-out-of-water tale of murder, blackmail, drug trafficking and rural police corruption. Two policemen must join forces to take on an international drug- smuggling gang - one, an unorthodox Irish policeman and the other, a straitlaced FBI agent. Sergeant Gerry Boyle (Brendan Gleason) is an eccentric small-town cop with a confrontational and crass personality and a subversive sense of humor. A longtime policeman in County Galway, Boyle is a maverick with his own moral
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Cast
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Brendan Gleeson
Gerry Boyle, Sergeant G... -
Don Cheadle
FBI agent Wendell Evere... -
Rory Keenan
Aidan McBride, Garda Ai... -
Liam Cunningham
Francis Sheehy, Francis... -
David Wilmot
Liam O'Leary -
Mark Strong
Clive Cornell -
Fionnula Flanagan
Eileen Boyle -
Dominique McElligott
Aoife O'Carroll -
Sarah Greene
Sinead Mulligan -
Wale Ojo
Doctor Oleyuwo -
Katarina Cas
Gabriela McBride -
Ronan Collins
Young Man in Car -
Conor Moloney
Detective -
Laura Hitchings
Female Garda -
Declan Mannion
James McCormick -
Sharon Kearney
Woman at Bartley's Hous... -
David Pearse
Bartley -
Laurence Kinlan
Photographer -
Michael Og Lane
Eugene Moloney -
Owen Sharpe
Billy Devaney -
Eamonn Olwill
Priest -
Yuyang Shields
Diner Waitress -
Mark O'Halloran
Garda No. 1 -
Pat Shortt
Column Hennessey -
Gay McKeon
Musician -
Gary Lydon
Gerry Stanton -
Mary Corcoran
Musician -
Darren Healy
Jimmy Moody -
Colm Gannon
Musician -
Johnny McDonagh
Musician -
Dominick Hewitt
Henchmen -
Giedrius Nagys
Henchmen -
Dermot Healy
Old Farmer -
Gary Robinson
Henchmen -
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
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The Guard Trailer & Photos
All Critics (121) | Top Critics (30) | Fresh (115) | Rotten (6) | DVD (1)
Although The Guard is primarily a language romp, it's also a terrific showcase for veteran pug-faced character actor Brendan Gleeson.
Top CriticBrendan Gleeson is a blooming marvel.
Crisp, acid-tongued and sharply acted, it's the sort of exercise in tangy Celtic cynicism that's become one of the Emerald Isle's most reliable imports.
There are few things finer in cinema than Brendan Gleeson's fat, happy face.
McDonagh's script is agile, darting between the ridiculous, the sage and the surprisingly sentimental. His love of language and the absurd has hints of the wisecracking Quentin Tarantino. But the story is decidedly more rooted in Ireland's loamy turf.
"The Guard" is violent, profane and funny.
A laugh-out-loud comedy as hard as "The French Connection," a modern spaghetti Western on the windswept wastes of Ireland."
This film belongs to Gleeson - he seems to have effortlessly conjured up a complex and charismatic mix of world-weariness and caring, all wrapped up in that enigmatic Irish charm.
John Michael McDonagh is having a lot of fun deconstructing the cop procedural in The Guard, because almost nothing goes as planned and everything has a satirical bent. It is a very funny black comedy with a stylish palette.
An impressive performance by Brendan Gleeson as an eccentric, independent and surly cop in a small Irish seaside town.
Self-conscious gestures in the direction of fish-out-of-water comedies, buddy-cop movies and Westerns don't amount to much in and of themselves, but they tie together as a functional clothesline for character comedy... [Blu-ray]
The Guard offers an offbeat take on a genre without skimping on the violence or gunplay.
Gleeson's enigmatic character: really smart or really dumb?
Despite its flaws it remains entertaining, good for a few laughs.
This impressive directing debut is a well acted, caustically funny Irish thriller, a classic fish out of water comedy
For all of its seeming conventions, this surprisingly plot-heavy character drama is a wonderfully UNconventional cops-and-robbers picture.
McDonagh's older brother John Michael McDonagh has done him one better with the awesome new The Guard.
Has the promised elements -- though the action isn't very over-the-top -- but it has an inner depth that isn't normally found in films of its supposed type.
The film's more interested in spending quality time with this unlikely pair than solving crimes. Thanks to McDonagh's sparkling script and some charming central performances, you will be too.
It's not exactly Ireland's answer to Hot Fuzz, [but] the film is a darkly humorous take on the buddy cop genre that fans of the British comedy will enjoy.
The Guard is raw, modest and charming - maybe the only movie possessing all three characteristics.
Writer-director John Michael McDonagh's film plays like a cynical, foul-mouthed version of "In the Heat of the Night."
Amusingly subversive, it's filled with nasty, impudent Irish humor.
The Guard is a vulgar, Irish treat. While many movies recently have ended with contrivance and disappointment, McDonagh's ending is satisfying. And his choice of the last song is ideal. But the dialogue of The Guard still is a puzzlement to me. WTF?
The Guard is terrific entertainment, and I can't wait to re-watch it on Blu-ray, when I can turn on the subtitles and catch the handful of lines I couldn't locate under those thick brogues.
Funny and entertaining from first moment to last...
Audience Reviews for The Guard
Super Reviewer
Leading the cast are Brendan Gleeson and Don Cheadle as two very clichà (C)d stock characters. Gleeson is the foul-mouthed, maverick guard whilst Cheadle is the officious, straight-laced F.B.I agent â" yes I know, how very boring. However, not only is this construct completely trite, it's also very poorly executed. It follows the usual buddy cop formula in a wholly unconvincing way, you don't believe in their relationship at all. The rest of the characters are also completely hollow, unremarkable and never even slightly funny.
I chuckled slightly only a few times, however they were contrived chuckles of desperation rather than genuine outbursts of laughter. I like dark, politically incorrect humour; however it's all rather unsophisticated and adolescent here. This is in stark contrast with 'In Bruges', which continues to make me laugh on every viewing.
The script is messy, dull and consequently rather hard to follow. The film sets up its premise, then a bunch of stuff happens, and then there is a bloody, almost slapstick denouement full of bad sound effects and comedic injuries which are just silly rather than funny.
Not only is this film massively inferior to 'In Bruges', it's also a sorry instalment in the buddy-cop genre which, along with a slew of other turds, helps strip '48-Hrs.' and 'Lethal Weapon' of their originality.
Super Reviewer
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- FBI agent Wendell Everett: You went to Disney World by yourself?
- Sergeant Gerry Boyle: Yeah, great gas it was! Had me picture taken with Goofy and everything. He's my favourite, Goofy!
- FBI agent Wendell Everett: You know I can't tell if you're really motherfuckin' dumb or really motherfuckin' smart.
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- Francis Sheehy: Let's get the fook outta here Clive!
- Clive Cornell: Kidding me? This is better than fucking Christmas!
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- Sergeant Gerry Boyle: Now I know what you w'er tinkin'... yer tinkin' those men are armed and dangerous... an' you, bein' an FBI Agent are more used to shooting unarmed women n' children.
- FBI agent Wendell Everett: The fuck?!
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- Clive Cornell: Where the fuck did you find those men?
- Francis Sheehy: Uuuh... I put n' ad. in the paper sayin' 'Henchmen Wanted'.
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- Sergeant Gerry Boyle: What a beautiful fuckin' day!
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- Sergeant Gerry Boyle: I'm Irish, sir. Racism is part of my culture.
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Movie: ID: 771225872 Title: The Guard Release Date: 2011-07-29 00:00:00.0 MPAA: 4 Status: 1
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Foreign Titles
- The Guard - Ein Ire sieht schwarz (DE)
- L'Irlandais (FR)
Writer/director John McDonagh someone to watch after his equally well toned In Bruges, does an Irish Tarantino here with lovely, hilarious dialog and a dark humorous tone, while still showing us a character that you can't help but love, warts and all. In fact, it's these warts that make him all the more human, and in the personage of Brendan Gleason, the character of "the guard" comes off as a big loveable bear.
Opposite this world wise, wise cracking Irish officer is Don Cheadle as an FBI officer who shows up in Ireland following the case of a drug ring and must put up with the antics of Gleason. This oil and water mixture has its comic moments as well - and if we're talking witty send ups, one could argue that McDonagh is not only lampooning buddy films, but the entire premise has echoes of the dynamic of "In The Heat of The Night".
The comedy is often crass, and occasionally acid tongued, but in this instance it all seems natural and not for any cheap laugh. For an example, after a romp with a couple of call girls (dressed up in guard uniform), Gleason starts having an itch down there. When one of the villains asks him about the discomfort, Gleason tell the man that he perhaps had a tad too much fun with the lasses from Dublin. The villain replies "Dublin, well then ye got what ye deserve". The beauty of this scene also comes from the fact that there seems plenty of time to talk, and yet it all seems so natural that a villain would ask these type of questions while holding Gleason at gunpoint.
In a nutshell, the tone of the film is perfect and true to itself, and once again, a scene from the film personifies not only Gleason's character but the wink in the eye nature of the film itself. At one point Cheadle looks at Gleason and says "I don't know if you are totally brilliant or a total idiot"... Gleason turns and gives the perfect smile - truth, sarcasm and mystery all rolled into one.