Irish People

All round good reviews. Some fantastic actors. Irish accents. Tempted to watch the movie already? You should be. Created by the brother of In Bruges' director Martin McDonagh, we have another dark comedy starring Irish men and dead bodies. So let's see how it is. This is The Guard.

Unorthodox police officer, Sergeant Gerry Boyle (Brendan Gleeson), works for The Irish Guard in a Gaelic speaking region of Ireland. One day he finds himself with a chirpy, young new partner as they investigate a recently murdered body. After many inappropriate jokes from Boyle, they go for a drink. Well, Boyle goes for a drink. Later they discover the FBI are around looking to bust a massive cocaine smuggling business. FBI agent Wendell Everett (Don Cheadle), leading the operation in Ireland, informs the local Guard of the situation. They are looking for five men. After some confrontation, Boyle informs Everett that they are only looking for four men; the fifth was the murdered body he was investigating. And thus, Everett and Boyle are thrust into investigating together. After the mysterious disappearance of Boyle's new partner, things start to get more and more interesting. Looks like it's time for a think over a Guinness.

Official report: The victim's life was flipped upside down

Brendan Gleeson, as always, is absolutely fantastic. I haven't laughed at one man so much for a long time. There's something very subtle about Gleeson's performance, despite playing one of the most out going and forward characters around. Underneath all that, there's a visible pain. The pain of his mother being so close to death or the fact that only prostitutes like him, and these things just build Boyle as a character and make him constantly interesting to watch, right until the last moment. Don Cheadle is great as well. Admittedly, he's a lot weaker than Gleeson, but he's the straight man to Boyle's ridiculousness. It's a combo that I could watch again and again. The bad guys are also fantastic, particularly Mark Strong. The 'get things done' criminal amongst evil masterminds, or people that wish they were evil masterminds, is suddenly a lot more engaging to watch than he would be in other circumstances.

Boyle's investigations were getting a little childish.

John Michael McDonagh is a long way off his brother. While his script is hilarious, touching, and dark, he lacks the thing that Martin McDonagh does so well: heart. There's a lack of heart to the movie. Characters develop randomly at points with decisions that are simply never explained. It is so almost there and, with a little more work, John Michael McDonagh will be producing fine work. The setting of country Ireland, however, is shot so beautiful and the soundtrack is so wonderfully chosen. Technically, it is a great film. There's just that layer of heart missing.

Despite that, The Guard is a wonderfully satisfying movie. It finishes well, something that's very hard for a rogue buddy cop sort of film, and keeps you laughing along the way. Definitely worth watching.

Best bit? The bit I laughed at most was the car ride with Boyle and Everett where they discuss Disneyworld and babies. I simply could not stop laughing.

Don't Worry, Death Is Funny.

Yesterday I went to see Scott Pilgrim (for the third time) and also Simon Pegg and Andy Serkis' new film, Burke and Hare. Burke and Hare, for those of you who don't know, were a real pair of murderers from the 1800s. In fact, Hare has been referred to as 'one of the worst villains to ever draw breath.' But have no fear, this is a comedy. One of the darkest comedies for a while... You feel bad for laughing at it.

The movie follows the story of the two Irish immigrants in their attempt to get work and money in 19th century Scotland. Trying to make ends meet as con artists and through Hare's (Serkis) lodging house which he runs with his wife, Lucky (Jessica Hynes,) the pair discover stumble across a way to get rich quick. The two top medical science practices in the world need dead bodies (or cadavers, if you will) but Dr. Knox (Tom Wilkinson) can't get his hands on any due to a new by law saying that Dr. Monroe (Tim Curry) gets all of the recently executed. He becomes willing to pay a fair amount of money for any cadavers delivered to him. Cue Burke and Hare's new job. After one of Hare's lodgers passes away, the duo stumble across Knox's payments and after a very brief (and unsuccessful) attempt as grave robbers, they go into business as murderers. Hare: for enough money to live and set up a real business. Burke: for enough money to fund an all female production of Macbeth and impress Ginny (Isla Fisher.)

The duo looked sad. Turned out their business was dead.

The history isn't perfect but it's well covered by a brief message at the beginning, informing us that it is a true story... apart from the bits that aren't. It's been twisted a little to suit the comedy genre easier. What disappoints me is people's clear misinterpretation of the film's purpose. It is a comedy. It's not meant to be gory, despite focusing on two horrible criminals. It taking a light view on what is usually a grim subject. Don't expect blood and guts everywhere (though there are some, mostly in autopsy scenes.)

A fast pace and fun filled riot. Really. If you haven't laughed at death before, you will during this movie. Whether it's jamming men into barrels or unfortunate carriages, this movie makes death funny. How? A killer cast; that's how. With Pegg and Serkis as the foolish entrepreneurs, every death scene or attempted murder becomes ridiculously amusing, mainly down to the reactions of the pair. Also, prepare for lots of famous faces popping up for a small amount of time. Christopher Lee, Paul Whitehouse, Bill Bailey and more. Ronnie Corbett is also in for a 'small role.' (Gettit?) It's brilliantly funny. It's not just the front men or the cameos either. Tim Curry truly steals scenes as Dr. Monroe who finds feet fascinating and Jessica Hynes is absolutely brilliant and also contributes to the oddest, but also funniest, sex scenes I've ever seen.

Children Of Men 2: Andy Serkis is Simon Pegg's gynecologist

And it is brilliantly directed too. From chasing runaway barrels to shit-out-the-window gags, the comedy is perfectly timed. It's not just the comedy either. We can see that director John Landis can push the boundaries of genres. Despite all the comedy, Landis recognises the dark nature of the period and throws in a couple of moments to make you jump. In other technical areas there's nothing particularly special. The camera work is average and the score is generic. They don't add anything, which is a pity. But it's okay because it's bloody funny. (Another pun there. I'm on a roll!)

Certainly worth a watch. Not the best film I've seen recently but I would say (along with Scott Pilgrim) one of the funniest. Watch it.

Best bit? So many moments. But I'll say when a certain cameo reaches his demise in a carriage. I still laugh at the memory.