The Guard

I couldn't help but wonder just how much acting Brendan Gleeson was actually doing here! He really does look like he's enjoying himself as the irreverent Garda officer "Boyle" whose sleepy Irish community finds itself embroiled in an FBI investigation led by "Everett" (Don Cheadle) into a smuggling racket that could involve $500m worth of cocaine. It's fair to say that "Boyle" does things very much his own way, doesn't really care about any hierarchies and the arrival of his by-the-book American counterpart is just a pain in the neck. Quite quickly, we are on the trail of the gang and though their developing relationship does take a fairly predictable path, their dialogue is peppered with some pithy and sarcastic humour and the detective work shows up, quite cleverly, the differences and effectiveness of their methods of policing. All along we know who there baddies are, and Mark Strong and Liam Cunningham deliver quite well as they assume that the local yokel will prove no trouble to their nefarious industry. The end is a little disappointing, but generally the whole thing moves along quickly and entertainingly with their culture clashing personalities well presented by Gleeson and Cheadle avoiding the worst excesses of stereotyping.