There wasn't much depth to this film, so the story was pretty
slim. But what The Guard lacked in
story, it made up for with its characters.
Brendan Gleeson was deadpan as the guard, Gerry Boyle. I've only
seen Gleeson in serious pieces, and I was delighted to see that he has range.
As the story progresses, Boyle must work with FBI agent Wendell Everett (Don
Cheadle) to solve some murders and capture drug traffickers suspected of
causing trouble.
Like I said, the story is secondary to the comedy of Boyle and
Everett. The film wasn't consistently funny, and I thought the balance of
comedy and drama wasn't there. But Gleeson and Cheadle are stable as a working
pair and I thought the script could've taken it further.
Even secondary characters delivered. Mark Strong and Liam Cunningham play villains that everyone is on
board with. The only downside to a film set in Ireland is that it can be
difficult to understand the accents. That may sound lame, but it's true when
you're not used to the brogue.
Mostly, The Guard
delivers an entertaining film. There are plenty of great one-liners that come
at you when you least expect it. Even though there was much that could be
improved, what the film offered wasn't disappointing.
