Just finished watching this quirky film "The Guard," for the second time this evening as it was playing on RTÉ.  Saw it the first time at the cinema just after its debut here in Ireland.  This is a zany film that captures many of the idiosyncrasies about life here in the west of Ireland (and Connemara in particular) quite well.

A few of our friends even had small bit parts.

Highly recommended film here.  Brendan Gleeson was superb as was Don Cheadle.  Quite a lot of "colourful" language, so be warned on that front.

I give this film FOUR STARS out of five.  Anyone else seen this film?  Your impressions?

Tags: Connemara, Film, Galway

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Saw this film in the theatre when it came out in the U.S. a couple of years ago. I thought it was hilarious. Don't have a clue how good (or bad) it was at depicting the life of a Guard. But I thought it was insanely good at depicting how out of place a Bureau man can be. Whoever wrote the script/consulted gave Don Cheadle a lot of layers.

And yes. At least 4 stars.

Regarding its accuracy in depicting the life of a guard, it's pretty much bang-on as far as I can tell, Sarah.  Most guards here don't really do all that much when compared to American law enforcement.  They're mostly like the "rent-a-cops" in American malls -- only there for the show of some semblance of security.

I suppose some of it was unrealistic, but I also saw much in it which reflects the way things really are.  Obviously Gleeson's character itself was over-the-top, but besides that I saw many reflections of truth.

Haven't seen it yet, but I understand Gleeson lives in Connemara. Perhaps you'll run into him, Ryan. 

**SPOILERS**:

I hope it was exaggerated as regards the corruption of the gardai!  I think it showcased the Irish talent for satirizing themselves.

Not to start a whole gun-control debate here, but I did find it maddening that Gleeson's character had to steal guns off the local IRA lads in order to take down the drug dealers.  Even worse, the poor guard, McBride is completely helpless at the hands of the gangsters he pulls over.  He is unarmed, as are most of the guards here.  An American cop would never be in this situation.  Then again, an American cop would probably have gotten into a shoot-out with the gang, with the sad result being the same.  Alas, my anguished confusion over the gun control issue is not resolved by a dark comedy - shock!

Gleeson and Cheadle were great (as usual for both.)  I also loved the supporting cast of highly recognizable Connemara characters (quirky farm kid, punky drunk young man, cowboy-hat-wearing IRA guy, indignant Gaelgeoir couple).  Great stuff.  Of course the best performance of all was the corpse holding the potted plant (my neighbor, Declan.) 

Hi! I've seen "The Guard" twice in the past year or so. It comes on one of our satellite movie channels. Gleeson is great. My teenagers knew him for his role of "Mad-Eye Moody" in the Harry Potter movies, and I've also seen him playing a small part in "Cold Mountain", where he plays the fiddle. He is also an Irish speaker, and did the narration for "Seachtar Na Casca", a seven-part television series on the seven signatories of the Proclamation of the Republic in Easter,1916. While visiting Capri last May, a Dubliner I met told me I must see "In Bruges", with Gleeson and Colin Farrell, another great Irish actor, and I have since seen this as well. The latter is a much darker film, to my mind. 

Yes, I was trying to figure that out, and I see that there are two brothers who each did one of these movies. 

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