“I’m not sure if you’re really dumb or really smart.” So
says the FBI man played by Don Cheadle to Gerry Boyle (Brendan Gleason), a
sergeant in the Irish Garda stationed in Galway on the west coast of Ireland
where the people have surly attitudes toward outsiders (particularly Dubliners)
and sometimes they insist on speaking only Irish. Gleeson, a bulky bear of a
man, is just the right actor to pull off the delicate balance between stupid
and clever. His character might be equal parts ‘Mad-Eye’ Moody from the Harry Potter films and Martin Cahill,
his character in The General.
The Guard, written
and directed by John Michael McDonagh, has a darkly sinister comic sensibility
akin to In Bruges, also starring
Gleeson and written and directed by McDonagh’s brother Martin. The film opens
with a car careering along the country roads of Galway, going just off camera
as we see Gerry in his patrol car and then hear the screeching tires and crash
of metal on the soundtrack. Gerry’s expression doesn’t change as he witnesses
and then approaches the scene to find an overturned car and several bodies
strewn about the road. He then rummages through a dead man’s pockets for the
drugs he knows he’ll find – not as evidence but for personal recreational use.
This scene plays as black comedy, setting the tone for the rest of the film,
mainly because of the complete absence of blood and gore that should be present
on the road.
