The Guard

[Jayman]

why was it rated 15A anyway?

I would say the drug-use was the main culprit, the opening scene particularly.

[Beate]

Possibly the language and bedroom scene? Also, the non PC comments.

And the shooting dead of people?

[weirdfilms33]

Oh - Happy Birthday, Weirdy btw! Whoop whoop!

Thank you very much!

Oh, and by the way, at the O2 there was a kid with his dad who was blatantly not a day over 11, yet they still let him in to a 15 film. Is the security looser at these free screenings?

these dads get younger and younger by the year!

if only he had brought his dad along...


mm ok i misused the english.

Whoops. I wasn't clear enough, sorry, haha!

[Beate]

And the one when Brendan was asking if he had any children. I don't wanna see a picture they all look the same. Unless u have a ugly child they look different I'll see that

LOL, yes, that was a good one.

[yogi]

Really enjoyed this, funny and quirky, like an In Bruges sequel set on Craggy Island, but at the same time touching and never shying away from the violence.

Liked Brendan Gleeson and thought it was nice touch with the villains chatting about the stress of their job and it was near enough 90 minutes as well, which is refreshing.

Overall a very enjoyable night at the cinema, and though I can understand why some people will like it more than others I'm baffled why the guy a few seats from me left after only 10 minutes!

[kevinknapman]

Excellent, foul-mouthed and very funny, this pitch black comedy was a joy from start to finish.

Clearly a spiritual successor to In Bruges. Unsurprising as it was written and directed by John Michael McDonagh, brother of that film's writer/director Martin. The dialogue was as quotable and laugh-out loud funny as it was there (personal favourite from the young boy "It's like the Birmingham Six all over again").

The story though a fairly straightforward tale was unconventionally told. If this were an American film, Don Cheadle would be the fish out of water hero, with Brendan Gleeson as the colourful support. Telling it from the other side gave it a fresh and unpredictable feel.
Excellent acting all-round too. Gleeson predictably good as Gerry Boyle, a flawed but oddly principled man. Having a ball, whether spending time with Dublin 'Whooers' or sparking up some likeable banter with Cheadle's by-the-book FBI agent. The scenes with his mother (played by Fionnula Flanagan) were wonderfully unsentimental and oddly sweet. The bad guys were well-played too. With Mark Strong, Liam Cunningham and David Wilmot on top form as the philosophy discussing trio. Also great to see the excellent Pat Shortt as the cowboy-hat wearing IRA man (I'm sure most Father Ted fans will be familiar with him as Tom, the 'I shot JR' T-shirt wearing village idiot).

Perhaps as a piece of film-making it was a bit rough around the edges but as a showcase for a great script and excellent performances it was perfect. Oh and as a huge fan of Calexico, I loved their spaghetti western inspired score (though admittedly it did sound a lot like most of their previous work. Still excellent though).

I personally liked the ambiguous ending very much and I loved how McDonagh threw around a few possible red herrings as to what might have happened. Could the inscription that the mother left in the Russian book be one clue? Or perhaps the song that played over the end credits suggests a totally different outcome. Personally I think the biggest clue came in the diner scene where they are discussing what was 'thrown off the Tallahatchie Bridge' in Bobbie Gentry's 'Ode to Billie Joe'. One suggests a baby, another a gun, until Gerry says that songwriter Gentry herself never knew and that it was always intended to be unknown and mysterious. So maybe McDonagh doesn't know either. It's supposed to be mysterious and there's nothing wrong with that.

[Celini]

Possibly the language and bedroom scene? Also, the non PC comments.

And the shooting dead of people?

I am just asking because I was surprised Super 8 was rated 12A.... I found it way more violent; we even saw some blood when Nelec got killed!

I'm baffled why the guy a few seats from me left after only 10 minutes!

maybe it was not this guy's reason, but I could imagine people leaving because they understand only half of it

[kevinknapman]

The frequency of the F-word was more than enough to give this a 15 rating, even if you ignore the drug use and violence.
You're only allowed one single use of the F-word in a 12A (if I remember correctly it was the dope-head in Super 8 who said it).

[TheDude]

Funny to see Virgin Media hijack Sky's screening with the short film before the main feature! I must have now seen "Sign Language" four times. Surely they must have other shorts to show!

So, The Guard is a little thin on the plot, but the sharp humour and Gleeson's performance make it a fine little off-the-wall black comedy. Enjoyed it despite the somewhat derivative western score and disappointing final set-piece. No need for subtitles btw, understood it fine.. 7/10

[Beate]

What short film? There was none at WIQ.