HomeMovie ReviewsVB

THE GUARD REVIEW

SHARE:

Another Irish movie roll’s into cinemas. It’s not about the war. It’s not about the famine. It’s an actual comedy. And let’s face it, with few exceptions the Irish film industry isn’t exactly known for comedy after comedy. As a matter of fact, comedic Irish films that hit the big screen are quite sporadic. Every few years something lands and this year, It’s The Guard.

Starring a brilliantly assembled cast which includes Brendan Gleeson (as Sgt. Gerry Boyle), Don Cheadle (FBI agent), Mark Strong and Liam Cunningham (both playing your friendly drug traffickers) amongst others. The Guard follows the life of Gerry Boyle. The local sergeant in the west of Ireland who, shall we say, runs things a little bit different. Most of his time is spent, as he would say himself, whooring around and getting fucked up. A drug shipment of $500 billion is about to land and the FBI turn up to try and nail it down, with the assistance (or lack of) of Sgt Boyle. That’s the basis of the story, as for the actual film itself….

The Guard is a non stop laugh out loud comedy with a really genuine heart at it’s core. It’s not slapstick comedy and it’s not full of one liners just for the sake of it. The script (by John Michael McDonagh) is incredibly organic. Nothing about this movie feels forced or contrived. But as we all know, every good script needs a good bunch of actors to make it work. And work this does!  Don Cheadle, plays the role of the FBI agent brilliantly. He’s got that real American arrogance thing working really, really well. And at times, his uncomfortable demeanour is almost too good to be true. Mark Strong is used to playing the bad guy role, and while his on screen time is limited, it’s hard to find fault with what he does. That said, I’d imagine he can do these kinds of roles in his sleep. Same goes for Liam Cunningham. Superb timing and utterly convincing as a hardened, culture obsessed bad guy. But for me, Brendan Gleeson is simply mind-blowing. It could have been so easy to dial this performance in, and even get away with it, but Gleeson electrifies the screen with his character. He brings a multi dimensional performance to Gerry Boyle and has completely humanised this lonesome individual. Honestly, you have to see his performance to understand. The uniform, the attitude and language are all spot on and are incredibly natural. It’s so good, it’s quite hard to spot the actual “actor” at times because the performance is that convincing.

tmb_theguard2

The dialogue is incredibly snappy and brilliantly realised. The laughs come at you thick and fast, but when things slow down it never feels like a sudden grinding gear change. It’s smooth and subtle. The movie might hang ever so slightly in the middle and drag it’s heels a wee bit but nothing too major. The ending again, like the majority of the movie is brilliant. Not an arse left the seat even when the credits rolled!

If there is one Irish movie, actually hang on. If there is ONE movie you have got to see this year, it’s The Guard. It is one of the finest Irish films for years and highlights what an amazing bunch of talent we have in the country. There is something here for everyone. Sure it’s a comedy, but it has a huge heart at it’s very core that will grip you and not let go. Simply brilliant and a MUST see!!!!

5-stars

Name

* ** *** **** ***** 2011 2012 2013 2014 About Advertise Asgard Week Audio August 2015 Avatar Avengers 2 Awards BAFTA behind the screens Black Friday Deals 2012 Box Office BTTF Bullet to the Head Buried Cannes 2012 Cloud Atlas comic con 2011 comic con 2012 Comic Con 2013 Comic Con 2014 Comic Con 2015 Comic-Con 2016 COMING SOON competitions Desolation of Smaug disney Django Unchained Editorial FC Feature fifty best movies Flipboard Magazine Frankenweenie. Gambit Godzilla Guardians Of The Galaxy Hell or High Water Highlander In Defence Of.. Interviews Ireland Iron Man 3 Jack Reacher Kick-Ass 2 Legend of the Guardians Les Miserables Libya Little Fockers Machete Man Of Steel marvel May The Fourth 2015 Monday Movie Meme Movie Bit Special Movie Of The Year 2011 Movie Of The Year 2012 Movie Of The Year 2013 Movie Reviews Netflix new New Clip New Release News Oldboy Pacific Rim podacast Podcast podcast comp Polls Posters privacy Prometheus Review Archive Review of 2013 RIP Scott Pilgrim Vs The World SFC Shelf Life Skyfall Skyline sony Star Trek 2 Star Trek Into Darkness star wars Star Wars Episode VII Star Wars Episode VIII Streaming Super Bowl Spot 2014 Superbowl 2012 Commercials Superbowl 2013 Superbowl 50 The Amazing Spiderman The Avengers The Avengers 2 The Backseat The Croods The Dark Knight Rises The Hobbit The Hobbit 2 The Last Exorcism The Next 3 Days the week in movies in case you missed it The Woman in Black The World's End Tim Heatherington TMB Special Toy Story 3 Trailer Trailers Transfomers 4 TRIVIA TW Twilight Day ultimate trivia VB Video Video Special Videos Wayne Week X-Men:First Class X-Men:First Class 2 Year in Review 2009 Year in Review 2010
false
ltr
item
The Movie Bit: THE GUARD REVIEW
THE GUARD REVIEW
https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTgTa8322eLoxmWovputRyUS1eDKcI8JqNU18060BhjnC9tClH6qoLbtEL30oj_tZp_juSOfH_MyRjARBRpb1eaHRXUpIYsbcXFgVRX8UayTMV27D3QbTSvt1gSly8DwRECAal9OOF4To/?imgmax=800
https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTgTa8322eLoxmWovputRyUS1eDKcI8JqNU18060BhjnC9tClH6qoLbtEL30oj_tZp_juSOfH_MyRjARBRpb1eaHRXUpIYsbcXFgVRX8UayTMV27D3QbTSvt1gSly8DwRECAal9OOF4To/s72-c/?imgmax=800
The Movie Bit
https://themoviebit.blogspot.com/2011/07/guard-review.html
https://themoviebit.blogspot.com/
https://themoviebit.blogspot.com/
https://themoviebit.blogspot.com/2011/07/guard-review.html
true
1558767935376976688
UTF-8
Not found any posts VIEW ALL Readmore Reply Cancel reply Delete By Home PAGES POSTS View All RECOMMENDED FOR YOU LABEL ARCHIVE SEARCH ALL POSTS Not found any post match with your request Back Home Sunday Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday Sun Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat January February March April May June July August September October November December Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec just now 1 minute ago $$1$$ minutes ago 1 hour ago $$1$$ hours ago Yesterday $$1$$ days ago $$1$$ weeks ago more than 5 weeks ago Followers Follow THIS CONTENT IS PREMIUM Please share to unlock Copy All Code Select All Code All codes were copied to your clipboard Can not copy the codes / texts, please press [CTRL]+[C] (or CMD+C with Mac) to copy