Just saw it last night – Little indie film, apparently in extremely limited release…Brendan Gleeson, Don Cheadle. Nice taut script, funny, well acted. Highly recommended.
I’m surprised that it managed to make Ireland look not-gorgeous; kinda flat, grey and swampy.
And I want to see it on DVD with subtitles on…I think I missed half the jokes.
I saw it twice in the theater, love it. It’ll definitely be on my list of favorite films of 2011. It’s smart, funny, rude, and even moving at times. As I’ve said elsewhere, Cheadle and Gleeson’s chemistry is off the charts, and I’d love to see them in other movies together.
There are so many great quotes, but only one of them is on IMDB. It would look really bad out of context so I won’t repeat it. I can’t wait until it comes out on DVD so more quotes show up.
Trivia: The Guard is written and directed by John Michael McDonagh, whose brother Martin McDonagh wrote and directed the fantastic In Bruges. The films are very similar in tone, certainly enough to make a great-double feature.
I can’t wait to follow their careers and if they ever worked together (like the Coen Brothers) I don’t think my poor heart could stand the awesomeness of it.
I’m looking forward to seeing it. I wonder how they managed to make Ireland look like crap. I spent several weeks there in the '90’s crisscrossing the country and the worst you could say about any of it was “that’s really pretty.”
Anything with Gleeson is worth watching. The guy really lights up a screen.
I see that they are using a (dumbass) reviewer’s quote to market this movie as a “RAUCOUS COMEDY!!”
Raucous, it ain’t. More of a low-key comedy, with some serious drama thrown in.
It’s a very fine little movie, and Gleeson is great in it, but I wouldn’t want to oversell it. It’s not as good as In Bruges. (There. That should get the sibling rivalry going.)
Gleeson is always a treasured supporting player, it was a treat to see him in a lead role, and the film is very funny. Fairly predictable in most of its beats, but a lot of fun along the way. Well recommended.
I saw it a few weeks ago, thought it was OK. The third act action showdown was a weak conclusion to an otherwise pretty low-key story.
I liked it. Since I heard In Bruges mentioned several times by people I was a bit worried as I really didn’t like that.
Good script, not much wasted space.
I saw the trailer and it put me off a bit. It’s been a pretty big hit here in Ireland. I must get it out on DVD.
I take it you didn’t visit the midlands so.
Could someone explain the guns? Who was the cache of guns intended for, and who was the guy in the VW beetle, and why did Gleeson give him the guns? [this will probably all be clear when I watch it on DVD with subtitles].
It was pretty ballsy of the kid who found the guns (and took one of them, which then happily got taken from him) to call Gerry, so I assumed, possibly wrongly, that the guns were meant for the smugglers.
If I interpreted the dialogue correctly, Gerry called a local IRA (Irish Republican Army) guy to come get the guns in return for some information. That was the guy in the VW. Gerry could trust the IRA guy more than he could trust the police force. The IRA and the smugglers were not connected, except perhaps both relying on corrupt officials to operate.
The boyfriend and I have been looking forward to this since we saw the trailer when we went to see. . . jeez, I don’t even remember. It would seem not likely to appear here in St . Petersburg; surprise, surprise. Glad to hear it’s everything we’re expecting and maybe we’ll get to see it via Netflix soon.
That was enough to get me to see it. The hubby hadn’t heard of it, but was willing to give it a go, and he REALLY liked it. We both did.
About the guns (putting in spoiler since most haven’t seen it)
My understanding was that the guns were already owned by the IRA (when handing them back to the guy with the VW, he said something about it having been a crap job of hiding them). That’s how the VW guy knew two guns were missing and Gleeson’s response to shut up and be happy he got any of them back.