The Guard – Ein Ire sieht schwarz (2011)

The Guard – Ein Ire sieht schwarz: Directed by John Michael McDonagh. With Ronan Collins, Paraic Nialand, John Patrick Beirne, Liam O’Conghaile. An unorthodox Irish policeman with a confrontational personality is partnered with an up-tight F.B.I. agent to investigate an international drug-smuggling ring.

“Screenplay writer John Michael McDonaghu0026#39;s directorial debut, u0026quot;The Guardu0026quot; (2011) is really a fine movie, relying the least on the originality of its story, describing criminal proceedings of the group of cocaine drug-smugglers and their interaction with local police, set against the backdrop of small-town western Ireland, however, filled with crackling good dialogue, sparkling with wisecracks, accompanied with nice scenery and pleasant, unobtrusive music. But, what makes it the best is its protagonistsu0026#39; performances.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eBrendan Gleeson is usually natural, making the character he plays fit like a glove—whether the robust and humorous loyal buddy and the warrior, as in u0026quot;Braveheartu0026quot; (1995), or a quiet and subdued aspiring politician, as in u0026quot;Gangs of New Yorku0026quot; (2002), or a non-supportive father, civil war volunteer-turned-deserter, as in u0026quot;Cold Mountainu0026quot; (2003), whether the gentle, mentoring, culture-exploring hit man in hiding, as in u0026quot;In Brugesu0026quot; (2008), or on the other side of the law, the grouchy police sergeant with defiant, often dissident sense of humour (provocative in one-liners like u0026quot;being FBI, donu0026#39;t you prefer to fight unarmed women and children…u0026quot;), as in this movie–and Don Cheadle, in the role of FBI agent Wendell Everett, a bit in the shade of Gleesonu0026#39;s Gerry Boyle, but nevertheless, sufficiently competitive (u0026quot;Langley is CIA, Iu0026#39;m FBI…u0026quot;), neat and convincing in his performance as always. (I admit to have a soft spot for this actor since his impressive role of the manager of Kigali Mille Collines hotel in the movie u0026quot;Hotel Rwandau0026quot; (2004), the very same hotel I have been frequenting for two months in 1995, just a year later to tragic events described in the movie.)u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eTo a pretty frequent movie goer like myself, who hasnu0026#39;t seen a single en par (or better?) leading actor in this year that is rapidly advancing towards its end, it is hard to believe that very many better acting performances could be demonstrated in the remaining two months or so. Therefore, if Brendan Gleeson does not find himself at least among top nominees for any yearly awarded film prize, Iu0026#39;ll have a problem finding such decisions just.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eAs a marginal note, I was lucky to watch this movie back home in my motherland, because having it subtitled was very helpful in order not to miss any of sergeant Boyleu0026#39;s wisecracks, delivered often in heavy Irish accent, and to understand at all occasional lines, uttered by marginal characters, spoken completely in Gaelic. Of course, point was not to be understood by English native speakers, but it was still interesting to know what usual u0026quot;advicesu0026quot; (if not insults) were given to English speakers, though eventually not English (as FBI agent!) at all. As Irish colleague of mine once said… u0026quot;We donu0026#39;t sing songs in Gaelic so English people cannot understand how badly we talk about them, they know it already! We sing in Gaelic simply because thatu0026#39;s our traditional language (N.B. official whatsoever), and songs sound much better and sweeter in it.u0026quot;”