The Guard (2011)

Brendan Gleeson is normally the supporting actor in big international films, with probably his most famous role as the Harry Potter dark arts teacher Alastor 'mad-eye' Moody. but he's also been in other great films including Braveheart, Gangs of New York and In Bruges. Finally he gets to play the lead role and does fantastic. Writer and Director John Michael McDonagh showed that a film without the likes of Brad Pit or Johnny Depp as the lead could be made, become profitable and most importantly, be a great film to watch.

Gleeson plays Gerry Boyle, an unconventional policeman in the west of Ireland. Gerry investigates, what first seems to be a seemingly random murder. FBI agent Wendell Everett (Don Cheadle) arrives in Galway to conduct a large operation against a well-organised drug smuggling ring. Both have to learn to work together to solve the crime.

We first meet Gerry at the site of a stupid car crash created by drunken kids. He searches to drunken joyriders, making sure they're all dead before taking drugs they have on their persons and using them for his own consumption. Gerry is the kind of guy who is very smart but acts like a child (he goes to Disneyland on his own to get his photo taken with Goofy) He also spends his time off with 2 young prostitutes dressed in fetish police uniforms and has a shot of whiskey with every pint of beer. He's the kind of police officer that makes Bad Lieutenant look like the cop of the year, but he also has a good knowledge of his town and Colombo-style insight into every investigation. His partnership with Everett is a strange one to say the least. They first meet at police headquarters, Gerry puts his hand up during a briefing and asks 'I thought only black people were drug dealers' When asked to explain himself, Gerry only turns round and says 'Im Irish, racism is part of my culture'.

Cheadle has the brilliant knack of looking offended without really showing it. The comments from Glesson aren't supposed to be taken seriously (he's not actually a racist), but wants be taken seriously as a police officer and never apologisies for his comments. Cheadle and the main villains Mark Strong and Liam Cunningham all do good jobs in the roles given to them but this is Gleeson's movie. He gives a performance that is up with the best you'll see this year and one that deserves a nomination or two come awards season.

The story is simple one that works very well because of the characters McDonagh's created. Every actor gets great material and all have memorable one-liners. The guard is an unexpected surprise and a great alternative to the other summer releases.