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The Guard
[Blu-ray]
Blu-ray A - America - Sony Pictures Home Entertainment Review written by and copyright: Ethan Stevenson (26th January 2012). |
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The Film
 “The Guard” opens with an almost-literal bang, the words “fuckin’ posers” blaring on the soundtrack, as a group of young ruffians—chivalrous-less chavs—speed down a country road. The camera sweeps across the vast, green countryside, as the boys’ red coupe drifts between the lanes on the weaving tarmac—a strip of black cutting through the lush landscape of West Ireland. The speeders whiz past a white-and-yellow Ford, a cop car, but the camera stops on the officer, the Garda, or Irish policeman, inside. His face emotionless, in a daze, we hear the speeders horrific crash off screen and he guard’s stone face turns to a grimace, as he rolls his eyes in disgust. The guard leaves his roadside post to inspect the accident. It’s a horrific scene. The red car now mangled, upside down, bodies—the car’s recent occupants—strewn everywhere. He looks inside the ruined vehicle, then turns back to the first body on the road and starts rummaging through the corpse’s jacket pockets. He finds a baggy, shakes it, opens it, examines one of the tablets for a moment, cocks his head and then, satisfied, places the tab on his tongue. The screen flashes for a brief flicker of a frame with a smiley face, an editing flourish that establishes one thing: the guard just dropped acid. He walks a short distance away from the crash, turns his gaze towards the oppressive gray sky and utters the words, “what a beautiful fuckin’ day”. The thick irony in his voice, and unconventional police work at his hands, not to mention that hit of acid, quickly conjures up the idea that Sergeant Gerry Boyle (Brendan Gleeson) is no ordinary policeman. And, although its plot is fairly conventional—really no more complex than your typical prime-time crime drama—writer/director John Michael McDonagh’s “The Guard” is no ordinary film either. A superbly acted, finely tuned action-comedy-drama, that’s as funny as it is poignant, McDonagh’s feature-length debut is well worth the hype and definitely worth seeing, especially for Gleeson’s career-defining performance. As a policeman, and even just as a man, the surly Sgt. Boyle’s days are dreary. But he makes the best of his cozy-cottaged, decidedly unlovely livelihood, turning a blind eye to illegal gunrunning by the IRA and instead imbibing in a bounty of booze and the companionship of pretty prostitutes. But when a man turns up gruesomely murdered in the sleepy small town of Connemara, Boyle’s investigation into the crime, which has oddly occult-ish overtones, opens a can of worms. And his parcel of peaceful West Ireland is about to get a whole lot more like the Old West than you’d imagine, helped there by a Morricone-esque score by Calexico and a whirlwind of gunfights (okay, really only in the third act) and wide vistas framed in expansive cinemascope. When his partner Aidan McBride (Rory Keenan) is gunned down shortly after the duo begin digging into the murder, Boyle learns that a much bigger game is afoot. One that involves the FBI and an agent named Everett (Don Cheadle, in fine form), what he believes to be half-a-billion dollars in drugs and a gangster (Liam Cunningham) and his two loyal thugs (David Wilmot and Mark Strong). Boyle and Everett team up—in the typical corrupt cop and straight-laced stooge fashion familiar to many a fish-outta-water buddy-cop formula—and take the bad guys out. But not without a booty of barbed insults and noxious non-sequiturs peppering Everett and particularly Boyle’s procedural police work (whose skewed view of the FBI is influenced too much by modern media, and TV in particular). On the surface, like Boyle, John Michael McDonagh’s view of policemaning seems to be a startlingly straightforward, and almost sickeningly simple view of crime fiction. His script—and sturdy, yet slightly stylized direction—appears influenced by the dreaded primetime plodder “CSI: Crime Scene Investigation” (2000-present). Only set in Ireland. And with considerably less censorship, as to let the expulsion of expletives overflow the pages of his screenplay, every f**k falling off the frayed frames of the finished film. But that’s not at all what “The Guard” really is. McDonagh—a playwright like his Academy Award winning brother Martin McDonagh—is much too keen a craftsman to placate the primetime crowd. And, if I’m not mistaken, the straightforward plot, full of predictable tropes, is actually parodying, if not outright satirizing, the genre. After all, although “The Guard” is a mix of genres, and a mixing which McDonagh handles quite handedly, it is first a foremost a comedy. An at times delicious dark, and other times dramatic, comedy, but a comedy nonetheless. Much praise has been heaped upon Gleeson by the critics in regards to his performance, and rightfully so. This is a career defining, and rare lead, role for the celebrated actor. Although he’s had top billing in other films, the trained thespian, who turned to acting relatively-late in life at 34, is perhaps most famous outside of the UK for his memorable supporting turns—as Frank, the doting father, in “28 Days Later...” (2002) and for his portrayal of Mad Eye Moody in the "Harry Potter" films (2001-2011), and also in the underrated “In Bruges” (2008) from director Martin McDonagh, an executive producer on “The Guard”, where Gleeson played the straight-man opposite Colin Farrell (although that last one is criminally under-seen; I mostly just mentioned it so that I can tell people it exists and that they should see it). Here, in “The Guard”, Gleeson is great. He manages to make Boyle a really complex, and wonderfully witty, character. Amid the chaos, the women, the booze, and the ripple of racial epithets that he excuses with the simple remark, “I’m Irish. Racism is part of my culture”, we learn that Gleeson’s terse flatfoot isn’t all that bad. Boyle loves his Mum (Fionnula Flanagan), who’s dying of cancer and has recently been given weeks, and no longer years, to live. And although he has a particularly painful way with words, it’s clear Boyle really only says what he does—and does what he does—because he knows he can get a rise out of people by being flippant. And, if not, maybe he has a reason to be such a crabby old cop: he did come in fourth in the Olympics once (or so he says). And everyone knows—they don’t give you a medal for fourth place.
Video
“The Guard” isn’t the greatest looking Blu-ray, and, if I’m honest, I was sort of expecting a much sharper, more detailed picture considering it’s of such recent vintage. But Sony’s 2.35:1 widescreen 1080p 24/fps AVC MPEG-4 transfer is quite dazzling all the same, with a pristine 35mm-to-DI source and a healthy film-like layer of grain, a faithful encode untouched by noise reduction or edge enhancement, and showing no noticeable signs of artifacts or aliasing. In most respects—a few shots of banded sky aside—most of the transfer’s “issues”, like an intermittent softness and a bleak flatness, seem inherent to McDonagh and cinematographer Larry Smith’s original photography. The locale may also be to blame: the film can seem a bit drab and dreary, with most exteriors under gray, overcast skies, lending to some of the flatness. But, on the upside, blacks are deep and shadow detail surprisingly strong. Facial detail isn’t as rewarding as I was expecting, but fabrics—like the pattern in Boyle’s purple night-time robe—are nicely rendered even in medium shots. Colors are also strangely bold in many of the interiors—perhaps an overcompensation by McDonagh and the production designer, hoping to counteract the dullness of the exteriors—with the lush green walls of Boyle’s bedroom and office, the plush purple velvet of his robe and on the chairs during the scene when Everett talks with the widow McBride (which also features a wall in the background that is almost flamingo pink), popping with unexpected vibrancy.
Audio
How do you evaluate an audio track for a film that has—in one of its first scenes no less—a joke about a character’s accent, when another thickly-accented Irishman mistakes “lowly” for “lonely”? Or, in another scene, where a confused FBI agent has to decipher a witness’ testimony spoken in Gaelic? Very carefully, I guess, so take my words about “The Guard’s” English DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 track (48kHz/24-bit) with my musing in mind. Accents aside, speech is generally intelligible, although as always, subtitles will probably be needed for the more American ears. Atmosphere is authentic, with rears getting good use, with gulls, weaves and winds filling in the wide-open, waterside soundscape. The third-act gunfire doesn’t explode with the power and weight of LFE-back bullets, but is perhaps more realistic, and populates the full 360-degree soundfield with accuracy. The clear highlight of the mix is the music. The Morricone-esque score by Calexico—the trill of a trumpet, upbeat whistling and a giddy guitar all used to great effect in creating fuller sound and is a terrific case of soundtrack dissonance in most scenes—and the various bits of music, like the choice tune by Chet Baker, the perfect placement of “Ode to Billie Joe”, and the closing track from John Denver, are all clear and perfectly balanced. As a comedy, with about as much drama as action, it stands to reason that the talk nature of the film doesn’t lend itself to a lot of showcase moments. But this is still a good—if subdued—track from Sony. “The Guard” includes optional subtitles in English and English for the hearing impaired.
Extras
“The Guard” includes a decent-sized collection of extras including an audio commentary, standard making featurette, Q&A featurette, a short film, outtakes, deleted and extended scenes, and the film’s original theatrical trailer and additional bonus trailers for other films in the Sony/Columbia catalog. For the record, Sony has authored the disc with optional bookmarks and the resume playback function. Video-based bonus content is presented both high definition and standard definition, in variable resolutions and aspect ratios where noted. First up is an enjoyable audio commentary with writer/director John Michael McDonagh and actors Brendan Gleeson and Don Cheadle. Although hardly technical—there’s no talk of film stocks here—this track is still a good listen and has a nice balance between insight and jovial light-heartedness. Anecdotal and focused on fun, the track still manages to keep your attention throughout with its upbeat, conversational tone between the actors and director. Cheadle, Gleeson and McDonagh obviously have a great rapport and share stories, make jokes, and occasionally offer a little insight into the production of the film, the characters and script. It’s not a film-school-on-disc type of experience, but fans should definitely set aside some time and give this one a listen. Delightfully light on film clips, “Making of ‘The Guard” (1080p, 19 minutes 21 seconds) is an ordinary featurette filled with a hodgepodge of interviews with the cast and crew, and a surprising amount of behind-the-scenes footage. Not entirely superficial and at the same time not overly revelatory, this is above average for an EPK maybe, but nothing spectacular. “The Second Death” (2.35:1 anamorphic widescreen 480i, 11 minutes 32 seconds) is a short film, directed and written by John Michael McDonagh, and shot in Connemara, in 2000. The short is an early draft of “The Guard” essentially, with several actors from the latter picture appearing here. The plot and themes are also similar. It stars Liam Cunningham, and features a prototype of Gleeson’s Sgt. Boyle. Short and to the point, not to mention occasionally funny, “The Guard’s” outtakes reel (2.35:1 anamorphic widescreen 480p, 3 minutes 5 seconds) is better than most. “Q&A with actors Don Cheadle, Brendan Gleeson and director John Michael McDonagh” (1.78:1 anamorphic widescreen 480i, 18 minutes 9 seconds) is a featurette with the trio talking about their film after a screening, presented by Los Angeles Times’ LA Film Fest and recorded in June 2011. Next are three deleted scenes and twelve extended and alternate scenes, all of which are worth watching. The deleted scenes (2.35:1 anamorphic widescreen 480i, 6 minutes 7 seconds total runtime, with “play all”) are: - Boyle has champagne with the prostitutes. - Everett tries to clear the air between Boyle and Stanton. - Boyle talking with Gabriella McBride. The extended and alternate scenes (2.35:1 anamorphic widescreen 480i, 18 minutes 37 seconds total runtime, with “play all”) are: - Boyle and McBride discovering the body, extended. - Boyle and McBride in the office, alternate. - The interrogation of Billy Devaney, extended. - Boyle with Oleyuwo ‘Bourbon’, extended - Boyle with Gabriella, extended. - Boyle and Everett have breakfast, extended. - Boyle talking with prostitutes, alternate. - Boyle and Everett in the bar, extended. - Boyle with Eugene on the bog. - Boyle vs. Sheehy at Eddie Rocket’s, extended. - Boyle with his mother in a bar, extended. - Boyle vs. O’Leary at home, extended. The film’s original theatrical trailer (2.35:1 widescreen 1080p, 2 minutes 18 seconds) plays up the subtle Western themes to a point of bracing bluntness. The disc also includes the following pre-menu bonus trailers for: - “Higher Ground” (1.85:1 widescreen 1080p, 2 minutes 10 seconds) on Blu-ray and DVD. - “Life, Above All” (2.40:1 widescreen 1080p, 2 minutes 14 seconds) on Blu-ray and DVD. - “Take Shelter”(2.40:1 widescreen 1080p, 2 minutes 12 seconds). - “A Dangerous Method” (1.85:1 widescreen 1080p, 1 minute 55 seconds). - “Carnage” (2.40:1 widescreen 1080p, 2 minutes 2 seconds). - “The Skin I Live In” (1.85:1 widescreen 1080p, 2 minutes 8 seconds). “The Guard” is also BD-LIVE enabled, although as of this review only includes access to the standard Sony webportal with additional trailers for Sony and Columbia films like “Ides of March” (2011).
Packaging
“The Guard” arrives on blu-ray from Sony Home Entertainment as part of the Picture Classics label. The dual layer BD-50 is packaged in a Vortex eco-case and is reportedly locked to Region A.
Overall
“The Guard” is a terrific film, filled with witty wordplay and featuring a fantastic performance from Brendan Gleeson. The plot is conventional, but the film is an interesting mix of humor and drama, with a little action thrown into the third act, and that makes the pretty predictable journey a much more enjoyable ride. Sony’s Blu-ray is typically terrific too, with vibrant video, above-average audio and a small, but overall excellent extras package. Highly Recommended.
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