Climbing Higher Pictures

There are two types of people in this world. People who love Brendan Gleeson, and people who I don’t have respect for. I’m kidding, but only barely. I think he’s probably one of the most talented character actors this side of Philip Seymour Hoffman, and I look at any project he attaches himself to with anticipation and excitement. Teaming with the brother of Martin McDonagh, who made such good use of Gleeson in In Bruges, seemed like a pairing genetically engineered for brilliance, and from that collaboration we have the following film. Find out how it played below:

The Guard Review

By Ryan Hamelin

Movie Grade: B

It is of note that as of this writing, John Michael McDonagh’s film The Guard is the highest grossing Irish production of all time, beating out his brother Martin McDonagh’s film In Bruges. It must be a rich family for screenwriting talent, as both films acquit themselves as tremendously engrossing pieces of entertainment with characters that feel almost too well defined to be contained by the screen itself. John seems a little less refined in his plot construction than his brother, utilizing similar set ups and payoffs in a number of his scenes, but I never stopped laughing, and the dialogue kept the energy high even in the slower sequences.

Another asset both films in question have at their disposal is the great Brendan Gleeson. Where In Bruges let him stretch his legs in a dominating supporting performance, he’s everything to this film. Without him, I doubt the material would have found an international audience, and his abrasive and racist Sergeant Gerry Boyle is one of those characters an actor like Gleeson was born to play. You never stop liking the guy, even when the words coming out of his mouth have every hallmark of a man you should despise. You see the twinkle in Gleeson’s eye, and you know that he’s well aware of the effect his manner has on others and is enjoying their responses as his own personal joke on the world. Don Cheadle is also great in the film as an FBI agent who has arrived in Ireland to help capture a drug smuggling group. He probably sums up Gleeson’s character best when he notes, while they are driving through the countryside, “I can’t tell if you’re really m&$#@ing stupid, or really m#&%$ing smart.” Gleeson just smiles in a bemused sort of way, and in that look, the reality of the guy he’s truly playing comes into sharp relief. You can’t take your eyes off of him, and there are a couple of great long takes in the film that live and die on the chemistry between these two men, something the director had the courage to let the audience experience in real time and without the filter of fast cuts or retimed punchlines.

The look of the film is a bit of a mixed bag. Shot on location in Ireland, it’s obvious that the landscapes and vistas are beautiful to look at. Even a small budget feature with that kind of canvas can feel like a huge movie, and it’s some of the choices that were made in interior spaces that may raise an eyebrow. Not unlike the framing in this past year’s The Kings Speech, the camera often crowds a single individual into the corner of the frame, leaving a large amount of wall to fill the rest of the shot. While this worked to varying degrees in King’s Speech because it helped the audience get into the mind of the characters, here it just feels a little out of place. The filmmakers also play fast and loose with their coverage sometimes, jumping the line and creating spaces and orientation that is unnecessarily confusing in the name of artistic license. For a character drama like this, it just all felt a little over directed, sometimes detracting from the enjoyment of the dynamite performances. When it worked, it worked beautifully, but the hit to miss ratio was just enough to lessen the impact of certain scenes.

If you liked In Bruges, you’ll enjoy The Guard for a lot of the same reasons, but it won’t stick with you nearly as well. Some of that is the story itself, some of it is the way it was told, but mostly the film plays it fairly safe, not getting much deeper than the shallow end of the pool but keeping the humor and the plot turns coming at a fast clip. It’s popcorn movie entertainment, but without the Hollywood element, and it’s interesting to see it playing in art house cinemas next to movies like Tree of Life. This is more of a crowd pleaser than many will expect, and bodes well for John Michael McDonagh’s prospects should he ever seek out work directing bigger budget fare. See it for Brendan Gleeson, and see it for having a good time at a movie theater. Those looking for something more may wind up disappointed.