The Guard

Cecil says: This is the kind of film that would no doubt get a very different audience reaction in Ireland than it did in the arthouse cinema we saw it in in York city centre last night. You need to know what the references to Limerick, Cork, Galway, Connemara really mean to get some of the jokes. So lines that got a chuckle in York would probably have them bent double with laughter in Irish cinemas...

What's it all about? An off-beat, grumpy but mischievous rural cop gets caught up in an international drug dealing gang about to pull off a major landing of cocaine off the Irish coast. A politically-correct, well-cut black FBI agent is shipped in from America to lead the police bid to stop the gang.

Seargeant Gerry Boyle is played by Brendan Gleeson, who is apparently well-known in Irish circles (and for Harry Potter fans, he played 'Mad-Eye Moody' in a couple of the Potter films - none of which I've seen, by the way!). He came across as a little bit Dalziel from Dalziel & Pascoe (the rugged, hard cop, with a soft centre), and a bit more Fitz from Cracker with his psychological insights behind a more blunt exterior.

The film moves along at a nice pace, keeping the chuckles going more than the intrigue over where the plot was heading. Not particularly deep stuff, but good entertainment for a Saturday night when most cinemas are still showing nothing but kids' stuff for the summer holidays. Rather like a Kaurismaki film is best seen in Finland for the full audience reaction, I couldn't help feeling this film would have been best seen in Dublin, or better still Limerick.

***

Bea says: As Cecil says, a quite funny, pleasantly diverting outing for a Saturday night, made even the more enjoyable for me as I have spent time on the West coast of Ireland.

Underneath the comedy and perhaps rather stereotypical presentations of Irish and American cops particularly, were some nice insights - suicide was one of the sub-plots of the film, and Boyle's comment about needing intelligence to commit suicide was interesting as the plot developed, as were the insights into appearing stupid when actually very bright, another sub-theme of the film. There was also a nice post-modern, laugh-at-self moment for the directors/producers, when the film's plot is suggested and fully described by young Eugene, who acts as a kind of Greek chorus or oracle throughout.

Despite its apparent simplicity, and in fact I left it thinking it was quite slight, it had some depth and has given me plenty to write about here!

Some scenes rather too violent for my taste; a bit like Tarantino meets Morse, if that can be imagined...
***1/2