The Worst Film Ever

So much average

Great Film overall

The performances transcend the film's tropes, grounding it in characters that feel more complete than this subgenre often produces.

The look into the Irish culture is interesting. The story, as a "this could actually happen" kind of story, is interesting. The humor is also interesting, though it seems to have tried to be funny more than it actually turned out to be. But, nevertheless, it's funny enough.It's not very fun, though. That is on purpose, so, it's OK, but, don't expect to be entertained much. I guess the biggest problem is that it doesn't make much sense in the end. So, our protagonist goes into a suicide mission and, presumably, survives. For what? It seems out of character... Because he liked the pretty little blond Croatian woman? Which is played by a Slovenian actress and it actually shows, if you're from the right part of the world, somebody could have just changed her origin. Also, what's his end-game? As a loner with no friends or family left and no way to contact the blonde or access to any significant money, what's he gonna do?So, yeah, it could have had a better ending to wrap things up nicely, but, still, it's OK as-is, it's worth a watch.

The story begins with a fat, potty-mouthed older Irish policeman investigating a murder scene, insulting the people he encounters and making supposedly funny gallows humor jokes. I realize this was supposed to be a dark comedy, but dark humor only succeeds if done properly, like in "Kind Hearts And Coronets".This movie has had surprisingly high ratings, and I cannot for the life of me understand why. If it was supposed to be a comedy, it was unfunny. If it was supposed to be an actioner, there was no action. If it was supposed to be a drama, I didn't care about any of the characters. I simply found it boring and turned it off early.

The Guard is a comedy that boasts a high level of cheeky humour and a cast that knows perfectly how to perform to this kind of comedy. With it's distinctly Irish flavour it never seems to fail at any point and even when the jokes aren't crying out loud one's, they are still pretty smartly done. It's quite short for a film with such a plot, but goes along way to getting the most out of it's script, I felt that it was firmly a very good movie, and here is why.The story is just a great one for a comedy, it is very dark comedy and everything can seem very bleak at times to say such funny lines are being produced. What was nice to see in the plot was that it wasn't afraid to maybe get slightly philosophical at times(even if it has a tinge of sarcasm),and really allow the characters to grow and grow so that we get to know them well, but they also deliver a comical performance, this film is very Irish comedy, all around the place.Brendan Gleeson in the main role as Sergeant Gerry Boyle is jolly and really contributes to the end rating of this movie, he brilliantly portrays a funny cop who we are not sure whether he is a good cop or a bent cop. Don Cheadle as the FBI agent goes along well with Gleeson and the casual racism directed towards him from some of the characters is dealt with well by the character, but also in a way that you know it is offensive and the racist person is just being plain dumb.John Michael McDonagh is the brain child behind this project and with a pretty limited budget to get such a cast, he manages to churn out a comedy with well constructed jokes bursting out from it. He directs and writes it and his talent for doing so is seen all the way through, he just knows what to do and the jokes flow through very nicely and also, they are very well times and not overdone. One more things to say is the setting is great, bleak but beautiful I felt it was a great advert fro Ireland, even if in the film, it contains some far from respectable characters. My only real criticism is well, I could say the jokes are never quite massive laughs, this movie will and does make you laugh but it is more of a conveyor belt of great jokes, but they won't make you cry at any point, unless you absolutely love McDonagh's comedy. Not so much criticism but I would have liked to have seen more of the community get involved in the film and really be a bit like the film "Hot Fuzz", but in the way that the town has various humorous characters. Fans of smart comedy and obviously Irish comedy should love this through and through, it just will entice you from start to finish and the running time doesn't drag this down, if anything it doesn't over stay it's welcome. If you like big gags and stunts, basically slapstick type humour, you won't like this as it mostly is funny by word of mouth, not if a character falls of a building and dies, it is much more complex than that.Overall it is Firmly a Very Good movie. You have to like it even if you don't laugh so much, it could lack jokes for some viewers and maybe others will not want the story, they may just want comedy which is fair, but I will say, this movie can be very enjoyable, if you watch it and enjoy the great mix of great comedy, and great story telling.

THE GUARD is an entirely predictable story of an ordinary policeman who gets involved with a major international drug smuggling ring, with guessable consequences. Despite the familiarity of the storyline - which gets more and more conventional as the running time goes on - this is a film which has some good stuff to recommend it, not least a sometimes witty script and a great sense of place.The film is set on the northwest coast of Ireland, particularly Galway and Connemara, and it's certainly a beautiful and underutilised backdrop (I should know - I'm lucky enough to have been there!). Despite chunks of lowbrow humour and an overwhelming number of expletives, there's some intellectual humour in the script here and there, like Mark Strong's criminal character who has something of a philosophical bent. Such elements make it workable, if slightly unwieldy.It also helps that the cast is pretty great. Brendan Gleeson has long been good enough to play a leading man, but it's only recently that he's been getting the roles. Don Cheadle banishes memories of his Cockney hijinks in OCEAN'S ELEVEN with a familiar fish-out-of-water role, but one which he acquits himself well with. The likes of Mark Strong and Liam Cunningham are old-handers at this sort of material, and make their scenes really sparkle. THE GUARD might tell a hackneyed story, but it has just enough charm of its own to get by.