The Guard

"The FBI are about to discover that things work a little differently around here."

2011 1h 36m EN

👍

7.0

SOLID

★7.0TMDB · 1,472

ActionComedyThrillerCrime

Synopsis

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When a small-town Irish cop with a crass personality is partnered with a straight-laced FBI agent to bust an international drug-trafficking ring, they must settle their differences in order to take down a dangerous gang.

“The FBI are about to discover that things work a little differently around here.”

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Cast

Brendan Gleeson
Sergeant Gerry Boyle
Don Cheadle
FBI agent Wendell Everett
Liam Cunningham
Francis Sheehy
Mark Strong
Clive Cornell
Katarina Čas
Gabriela McBride
David Wilmot
Liam O'Leary
Rory Keenan
Garda Aidan McBride
Laurence Kinlan
Photographer

Credits

Behind the camera

Director: John Michael McDonagh
Writers: John Michael McDonagh
Languages: Irish, English
Countries: Ireland, United Kingdom, United States of America

Want more? Switch to Cinephile mode in the header for DP, composer, budget, box office, production companies, keywords, and release history.

Did you know?

Fun facts 🍿

1 / 8

MONEY

Did you know

Made its money back 3.3× over at the box office.

MoodPlayr · trivia#01

2 / 8

ERA

Did you know

Released 15 years ago.

MoodPlayr · trivia#02

3 / 8

WORLD

Did you know

Dialogue crosses 2 languages: Irish, English.

MoodPlayr · trivia#03

4 / 8

WORLD

Did you know

International production across 3 countries: Ireland, United Kingdom, United States of America.

MoodPlayr · trivia#04

5 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Directed by John Michael McDonagh, shot by Larry Smith. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.

MoodPlayr · trivia#05

6 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Original score by Joey Burns. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.

MoodPlayr · trivia#06

7 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Editor Chris Gill shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.

MoodPlayr · trivia#07

8 / 8

CAST

Did you know

Brendan Gleeson and Don Cheadle and Liam Cunningham carry the top of the cast.

MoodPlayr · trivia#08

Cinephile deep dive

The take

John Michael McDonagh directs. Larry Smith behind the camera. Joey Burns scores. Chris Gill cuts. Runs lean at under 100 minutes. Made its budget back several times over at the box office. Produced in Ireland, United Kingdom, United States of America. Dialogue in Irish, English.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

1Made its money back 3.3× over at the box office.
2Released 15 years ago.
3Dialogue crosses 2 languages: Irish, English.
4International production across 3 countries: Ireland, United Kingdom, United States of America.
5Directed by John Michael McDonagh, shot by Larry Smith. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
6Original score by Joey Burns. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.
7Editor Chris Gill shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
8Brendan Gleeson and Don Cheadle and Liam Cunningham carry the top of the cast.
9Marketing tagline: "The FBI are about to discover that things work a little differently around here.".
10IMDB entry: tt1540133 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.
11Classified under 8 themes, including "prostitute", "drug smuggling", "blackmail", "rural area".
12Released under 11 different titles around the world.

The technical file

Cinematography: Larry Smith
Original score: Joey Burns
Editing: Chris Gill
Production design: John Paul Kelly
Costume design: Eimer Ní Mhaoldomhnaigh
Makeup / hair: Orla Carrol
Runtime: 96 min · 1h 36m
Aspect ratio (typical): 1.37:1 (Academy)
Status: Released
Budget: $6,000,000
Box office: $19,560,274
Return: 326% of budget
Original language: EN
Certification (US): R
IMDB: The Guard (2011)

Also by

John Michael McDonagh

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Community reviews

What people are saying

Reno2016-11-23
★ 5/10
An ordinary cop, enjoying his single life, gets into a real cop business! I won't say it is an overrated film, but it simply did not work for me. The same director who had made 'Calvary' directed this one as well with Brendon Gleeson in the lead, but that was an earlier project to this one. I loved that film, not this one, though I consider it an average, because I did not find it bad. The theme was very familiar, and too much wasted scenes with the slow narration spoiled my mood. There's no clear perspective of the storytelling, just it concentrated on a small town cop and his single life, and rarely he fights the crime. When an FBI agent comes looking for some international drug dealers, a cop in a small Irish town braced to assist the American officer. Though he never cared to involve in it. He follows his usual lifestyle, enjoying every moment of his life. After a woman comes asking to find his cop husband gone missing, he now gets into the action. How serious he makes progress in the case and its result is the rest of the film to disclose. It's not as funny as I anticipated. But watchable film for its quality narration. The actors were just okay. The characters were really weak, particularly the villains. They occasionally appear and gone for forever, and then there comes the final battle. Did not sync well between them and the cop, especially what they were fighting for, other than they are. Especially the FBI agent played by Don Cheadle casting was worthless. For a fine theme like this, the plot should have developed with at least a couple of twists and maybe a grand action sequence. It does not matter though, at least engaging plot needed, but failed on that part. Sorry to say that I'm not in favour of it to suggest it to anybody, though you might it better than me. 5/10
CinemaSerf2024-03-30
★ 7/10
I couldn't help but wonder just how much acting Brendan Gleeson was actually doing here! He really does look like he's enjoying himself as the irreverent Garda officer "Boyle" whose sleepy Irish community finds itself embroiled in an FBI investigation led by "Everett" (Don Cheadle) into a smuggling racket that could involve $500m worth of cocaine. It's fair to say that "Boyle" does things very much his own way, doesn't really care about any hierarchies and the arrival of his by-the-book American counterpart is just a pain in the neck. Quite quickly, we are on the trail of the gang and though their developing relationship does take a fairly predictable path, their dialogue is peppered with some pithy and sarcastic humour and the detective work shows up, quite cleverly, the differences and effectiveness of their methods of policing. All along we know who there baddies are, and Mark Strong and Liam Cunningham deliver quite well as they assume that the local yokel will prove no trouble to their nefarious industry. The end is a little disappointing, but generally the whole thing moves along quickly and entertainingly with their culture clashing personalities well presented by Gleeson and Cheadle avoiding the worst excesses of stereotyping.