The Guard (2011) – 4.5*

Dir: John Michael McDonagh / Writer: John Michael McDonagh / Cinematography: Larry Smith

Brendan Gleeson is amused / gleeful? (image: Oneras FlickrCC)

With guards like this who needs…
Do not be fooled by Brendan Gleeson’s cherubic face and his role as a village cop/Garda on the West coast of Ireland, for this take on the age-old mismatched cops / buddy comedy is like Local Hero pumped through a Tarantino filter. From start to finish this is as crude, lewd, violent and, of course, as witty as anything QT might put out, and then some. Which starts to make sense when you work out that rookie director, John McDonagh’s brother is Martin McDonagh – of foul-mouthed but equally funny In Bruges fame.

Wendell Everett (Don Cheadle) is a straight-laced FBI agent who gets packed off to Ireland when his morals get in the way of his colleagues under-the-table activities. There to assist on a major drug bust he finds that even on the other side of the Atlantic he’s seen as too much of a killjoy to be let in on the fun.

Garda Sergeant Gerry O’Boyle whose dubious pastimes include (very) young-looking prostitutes, midgets and confiscated drugs by the bucket-load, becomes an unlikely ally when Wendell decides to follow a hunch and do a spot of investigation in the wilds of Galway, but their tentative steps towards an understanding are both hilarious and heart-warming.

The easily offended should stick well clear as racist, sexist, anti-religion and every type of un-PC comment come flying past with equal abandon. But if you’re looking for a fresh, tightly-written thriller that manages to skip past every buddy movie cliché going, you’re in for a treat. Cheadle and Gleeson have a natural rapport which makes their scenes a delight and Mark Strong adds to his growing list of scene-stealing performances as the bored, but lethal, mobster Clive Cornell.

And just how often do you get to say that a film really wasn’t long enough?

Rating: 4.5/5
IMDb entry for The Guard

Tags: Brendan Gleeson, David Wilmot, Don Cheadle, Fionnula Flanagan, John Michael McDonagh, Katarina Cas, Liam Cunningham, Mark Strong

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo / Män som hatar kvinnor (2009)

Dir: Niels Arden Oplev /Writer: Nikolaj Arcel and Rasmus Heisterberg / Cinematography: Jens Fischer and Eric Kress

Lisbeth gets some medical attention (image: Worthing Theatres FlickrCC)

Beautiful, brutal and unforgiving. This description could as easily fit the film or the (anti)heroine of this dark, visceral Swedish thriller.

Like police thriller Wallander before it, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo is based on a series of best-selling novels that show a very different Sweden from the stereotypical sexy blondes with happy smiles. Instead we get monosyllabic cyberpunk geeks and dishevelled investigative journos alternately roaming gritty urban streets and breathtaking desolate icy tundra.

The plot twists and turns, picking up interwoven strands across four decades. At its heart is the mystery surrounding the disappearance of a teenage girl in the 1960s and a last ditch attempt, by her wealthy uncle Henrik, to find out what happened to her. But there’s also the interplay between Mikael the disgraced journalist hired to investigate (Michael Nyqvist) and the brilliant, but damaged, Lisbeth (Noomi Rapace) who comes to help him.

Complex, but beautifully structured and intensely compelling, it holds the attention span with its fully rounded characters, twisted humour and genuinely shocking elements of violence.

In the manner of all the best thrillers ultimately you care less about “who dunnit” and more about how the film gets there. That, of course, is mainly due to the captivating central performances put in by Nyqvist and Rapace – never slipping into melodrama or caricature. Even when the plot takes a slight gothic turn they remain thoroughly believable.

A sensational film – though not for the squeamish. Now let’s see if Hollywood screws up the remake…

Rating: 4/5
IMDb entry for The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo

Tags: crime thriller, drama, Ingvar Hirdwall, Lena Endre, Marika Lagercrantz, Michael Nyqvist, Niels Arden Oplev, Noomi Rapace, Peter Andersson, Peter Haber, Sven-Bertil Taube

Priceless / Hors de Prix (2006)

Dir: Pierre Salvadori /Writer: Pierre Salvadori / Cinematography: Gilles Henry

Amelie gets mean (image: impawards.com)

Cute Audrey Tatou gets tough as Irène; a gold-digger on the hunt for a permanent sugar-daddy who mistakes bartender Jean (Gad Elmaleh)for a man of money. Realising her mistake she drops him like a hot pomme de terre but the poor man is smitten and tries to keep her in the manner to which she’s accustomed until her love of the high life (very quickly) wipes out his life savings.

It should be frothy and funny – How to Marry A Millionaire or Some Like it Hot could provide the perfect template to follow – but, unfortunately, while the romance eventually convinces the humour is a shade too cruel and it comes too late to work as effortlessly as premium comedy should. Still, the south of France settings are wonderful and Audrey, as ever, is a pleasure to watch.

Rating: 3.5/5
IMDb entry for Priceless

Tags: Annelise Hesme, Audrey Tautou, french comedy, Gad Elmaleh, Jacques Spiesser, Marie-Christine Adam, Pierre Salvadori, rom-com, romantic comedy, Vernon Dobtcheff

Cemetery Junction (2010)

Dirs: Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant / Writers: Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant / Cinematography: Remi Adefarasin

The real Cemetery Junction! (image: BenSutherland FlickrCC)

Where’s Ye Babam Ye when you need it?!
A version of 70s Reading in which every day is sun-filled, the trees are leafy and life is (relatively) simple. Avoiding the well-trodden Brit-flick gritty kitchen-sink drama route, Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant fashion a story of teenage firsts; with love, lust, booze and brawls all rearing their heads at some point in proceedings.

Freddie (Christian Cooke) wants to break away from his humdrum life and make something of himself but how can he do that and stay part of his tight circle of friends? Brooding James Dean-alike Bruce (fabulous find Tom Hughes) just wants to get out of town and find adventure anywhere that’s away from his dad and their troubled relationship, while amiable joker Snork (Jack Doolan) just wants a simple life with a good woman.

A tenderhearted story filled with gentle humour, great tunes and some attention-grabbing performances (Emily Watson and Tom Hughes) that lift it from TV movie potential into perfect Sunday evening viewing.

Rating: 3.5/5
IMDb entry for Cemetery Junction

Tags: Christian Cooke, Emily Watson, Felicity Jones, Jack Doolan, Matthew Goode, nostalgia movies, Ralph Fiennes, Reading films, Remi Adefarasin, Ricky Gervais, Stephen Merchant, Tom Hughes