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.
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Nate H. reviewed The Guard (2011)
Review from the comment
The spirit of classic unlikely buddy cop movies like 48 Hours and Lethal Weapon is where The Guard draws its cue from. Here you have Brenden Gleeson as a burnt out Irish sergeant who cavorts with prostitutes and samples seized narcotics searching to feel some kind of zest for life. On the other side is buttoned too tight FBI agent Don Cheadle who has traversed into Gleeson’s country in search of a trio of international drug traffickers. The two do not like each other at first: Gleeson has no problem interjecting racist opinions at Cheadle and Cheadle has no patience for the bumpkinism of Gleeson. But over the course as it always is in films like this, the two grow to a mutual respect for the other, if not admiration. It’s not a new formula but where The Guard succeeds is in the script. The humor engine is hitting on all cylinders when these two go at each other and audiences benefit greatly from it.