There is no analytical framework to guide audiences towards a hollow understanding of raw talent. Gleeson's charisma is built-in, like all legendary performers, and this is most evident when his characters behave despicably.

| Mar 26, 2024

Gleeson has rarely been better or been given such a showcase for his talent.

| Original Score: 3.5/4 | Mar 1, 2023

Flipping the street cop and well-to-do dynamic of 'Beverly Hills Cop' on its head, Cheadle's uptight Yale graduate is suitably stuffy when plonked in the Irish countryside.

| Original Score: 3/5 | Oct 28, 2021

The Guard offers just over 90-minutes of excellent escapism and guaranteed hilarity that is still worth seeking out even a decade after its original release.

| Original Score: 4.5/5 | Oct 12, 2021

The Guard may very well feature the year's best dialogue, perfectly suited for the awesomely talented Gleeson's blustery, energized and inspired delivery.

| Original Score: 3.5/4.0 | Sep 9, 2020

A quirky buddy-cop film with an excellent cast led by magnificent Brendan Gleeson, fast-paced and with a rarely-seen quantity of witty dialogues.

| Aug 11, 2020

Raucous and depraved, but also one of the most entertaining, darkly comic detective movies in recent memory.

| Original Score: A | Jul 11, 2020

In what could have been a routine run-of-the-mill murder, drug trafficking, mob/cartel action flick, we instead have a film that explodes with life, filled with subversive humor, laugh-out-loud funny comedy, caustic and callous wit...

| Nov 16, 2019

Overall, The Guard is worth seeing for its actors and some of its smart dialogue, but sometimes it becomes smart-ass past the point of many viewers' enjoyment.

| Original Score: B- | Feb 9, 2019

But unlike most other movies with plenty of gunplay and profanity, you'll actually think about the film -- and remember its remarkable title character -- long after you've finishing watching it.

| Original Score: 4.5/5 | Jan 8, 2019

What's so effective about The Guard is how it has just enough of a narrative trajectory to keep it from feeling entirely like a sketch-show.

| Original Score: 3/5 | Dec 2, 2018

A superbly crafted comedy that gives a hilarious angle on Irish culture, in particular its taste for inappropriate humour.

| Original Score: 4/5 | Aug 29, 2018

An admirably executed and often hilarious variation on the overdone action-comedy genre, elevated by stand-out performances across the board and an extraordinarily well-executed script from McDonagh.

| Original Score: 4/5 | Aug 14, 2018

Witty, macabre and funny, The Guard is a well-paced, well-acted movie that should not be missed if you're a fan of crime comedies.

| Oct 24, 2017

Much like its protagonist, the film appears to enjoy taking the piss out of its audience, giving them a cynical yet cheeky neo-noir that tweaks the usual conventions and comes up with a story that may be familiar, but is told in fresh fashion.

| Original Score: 4/4 | Sep 1, 2017

The Guard can sometimes be a touch too clever for its own good such as when the villains discuss their favourite philosophers but quality acting keeps things the right side of quirky.

| Original Score: 4/5 | Sep 1, 2017

Following a surprisingly conventional climax, "The Guard" concludes in an open-ended fashion.

| Oct 7, 2015

To paraphrase Nigel Terry in "The Lion in Winter," "The Guard" is a stinker and it stinks.

| Original Score: 1.5/4 | Sep 4, 2015

An ode to shabby nobility much stranger and sadder than expected.

Full Review | May 3, 2015

Gleeson and writer-director John Michael McDonagh are in lock step in characterizing the decidedly unorthodox Gerry Boyle.

| Original Score: 3/4 | Aug 5, 2014