The Guard (2011) a (mildly) belated review

So I was in one of those “lulls” with my Netflix queue.  While waiting for a couple of movies to be released in the next few weeks, I had my pick of films I was curious about but not necessarily waiting with bated breath to see.

Among them I chose The Guard, a 2011 comedy featuring Brendan Gleeson and Don Cheadle.  I recalled the movie received positive reviews upon being released even if the film seemed to disappear rather quickly from theaters without garnering all that much attention from audiences.

So I gave it a whirl.  I didn’t expect all that much, which made what came next all that more delightful.

The Guard is, to put it bluntly, one of the most consistently funny films I’ve seen in a very long time.  From the beginning to the end I found myself laughing out loud at the situations presented and the very clever dialogue.

The story: Sergeant Gerry Boyle (Gleeson) is a walking contradiction of a police officer.  He operates in a very small town in Ireland and is viewed as a “loose cannon” by those around him.  He is alternately vulgar, seemingly corrupt (to a point), and, some may think, dim witted.  However, there’s much more to Boyle than meets the eye.  Over the course of the film, he becomes involved with a group of shady, violent, and surprisingly eloquent (!) drug runners as well as a very “fish out of water” American FBI agent (Cheadle) who is hunting them down.

Those expecting big action sequences will likely be disappointed.  However, those same people should be won over by the movie’s clever and hilarious script.  If, like me, you’re a little too accustomed to American English, feel free to use the subtitle feature to capture every delicious bit of dialogue.

It is rare to see a comedy that manages to sustain its energy level throughout its run time.  Though The Guard wasn’t one of the films I was “dying” to get to on my queue list, I’m very happy to have given it a try.  Highly recommended.