The Guard

Every once in a while we are blessed with a film from across the pond that enhances our life. Usually once per year a film really grabs the attention of the Americans and the most recent offering is the smash Action/Comedy/Drama, The Guard. The Guard is referring to one man really. His name is Gerry Boyle (Brendan Gleeson) and he is anything but orthodox when it comes to his job. I will call him a police officer, though I am not sure if this term is the correct where he lives in rural Ireland. The film gets right into it inside of the first 30 seconds. This is where we learn all we need to know about Gerry's mentality about his job and how he sees things. This film is an obvious UK film. Kind of dry witted, great jokes that may go unnoticed, or even not understood. Not like they are so brilliant we don't "get" it, but literally, we can't understand what the Feck they just said due to thick accents and dialect of the region. I got to hear Gaelic for the first time also. Apparently so does Wendell Everett (Don Cheadle). Cheadle is most unexpected in the film as he is the only American actor present. He plays an FBI agent hot on the trail of drug smugglers transporting 500 million dollars worth of illegal narcotics. That's Half a Billion. When Agent Everett shows up in the small Irish town, he is insulted almost immediately by our anti hero, Gerry. Gerry never holds his tongue no matter how crass he is being, he doesn't much care. If it's his day off, don't bother him, and if you don't want the truth wrapped up in an extremely sarcastic, smart ass fashion, then don't ask him a question. He is old school. He does what he wants and throughout the film we get the feeling he is a dirty cop, but we are never sure. He doesn't seem to respect the badge or any of his co-workers for that matter, but he is a brilliant detective. Everett ropes him into helping him, though he feels Everett doesn't listen to half of what he says. Once the gangsta drug dealers get involved the film amps up a bit, and it is definitely a film that needs to be viewed at least 3 times to catch all the cheeky dialog. Whether its the dialect or the fact it is hard hear over your own laughter, it is definitely worth every one's time.

NBM rates The Guard - Phenomenal