'The Guard'

'The Guard' (R) (3 STARS)

Written and Directed By John Michael McDonagh
Starring: Brendan Gleeson, Don Cheadle, Mark Strong, Liam Cunningham, Fionnula Flanagan

"The Guard" is a very funny and charming comedy where the dialogue is witty and so wonderful to listen to. It also has one of my favorite actors in Brendan Gleeson who is that actor that makes a movie special just because he is in it. Gleeson is paired up with one of our best character actors in Don Cheadle. Their chemistry together is magical and they sound wonderful together bouncing their lines off of each other.

Brendan Gleeson is Seargant Gerry Doyle who is very politically incorrect and probably doesn't think much before he speaks. He always speaks his mind without ever thinking of the consequences and some of his comments can be a wee bit racist and outrageous. Gerry is after a group of drug dealers who are disrupting his small town. He takes pride in his home and wants to catch these criminals. He is not too happy with being forced to work with black FBI agent Wendell Everett. He just doesn't like an outsider interfering with his work but the way Gerry speaks Wendell thinks Gerry might be a racist.

The movie is wildly entertaining mostly in the very funny and outrageous things that Gerry and the group of criminals say. I also love Cheadle's reactions to the ramblings of Gerry that sometimes make sense and sometimes don't. Cheadle has a classic line where he tells Gerry that he doesn't know if Gerry is really dumb or really smart. What I did love was that we do fall in love with Gerry and find him to be a good person. Brendan Gleeson is a great actor and when he does quirky comedy like this no one can touch him.

There was a similiar style of movie that came out in 2008 and was in my top ten list of that year that also starred Gleeson. It was "In Bruges" and it was written by playwright Martin McDonagh. The writer of "The Guard" is John Michael McDonagh and he is the brother of Martin. Both are extremely gifted writers who have a wonderful ear for funny dialogue. I hope Brendan Gleeson makes a movie once a year and I can't wait till the McDonagh Brothers make their next movie.