Kevin's Watch

Don't know if anyone else has seen this terrific two hours of fun, but I can't reccomend it highly enough. This film [the directorial debut I believe of John Michael McDonagh] stars Brendon Gleeson as a police seargent in the Guarda in a sleepy part of Southern Ireland somewhere away from Dublin. Co-opted by the FBI to help with a suspected drugs landing bust, Gleeson plays the locally wise, but otherwise totally un-prepared provincial cop who both exasperates and intrigues his street-wise American partner played by Don Cheadle. So un-PC as to be excruciating, Gleeson revels in the role before bringing an unexpected heart to it that remains long after the final scene has closed. I don't know how easy it is to obtain on dvd or whatever, but do whatever you have to to see this film. It's a thing of beauty.

Just ordered the disc from Netflix.

I'll watch that tonight. I remember the trailer, it looked intriguing.

Good news - I don't think you'll regret it!

I thought I had a copy of it but evidently I was mistaken.

Worth picking up if ever you come across it. The director's new film called *Calgary* also starring Gleeson is attracting high praise as well.

I saw this recently, being Irish I have a certain perspective. (The director also recently managed to p*** off a lot of people in the Irish film world.) I'll wait until others have viewed it and commented, and then I'll add my

u.

U. - looks like this one 'crashed and burned', but I'd be really interested to hear what you were going to say. On the face of it, it was just a really entertaining film - but I guess to a 'resident' there could be 'issues arising' that do not impinge upon the rest of us. If so I'd like to hear your 'take'.

Other than the incredibly thick accents that we had to rewind to catch, I though this was a great film.

Glad you enjoyed it Cail.

Cail wrote:Other than the incredibly thick accents that we had to rewind to catch...

I resemble that remark!

Although the people in the movie are supposed to be from the west of Ireland, so their accents would be a bit thicker.

peter wrote:...If so I'd like to hear your 'take'.

I have no real issues with the film, peter. A number of people had recommended it to me and so, maybe, I had expectations for it that weren't warranted. It's a slick, funny action/thriller, but it's not really anything more than that. There is a clever play on the 'thick Irish cop' routine, and Gleeson brings that off admirably.

What's of more interest to me is how the film plays with non-Irish audiences? This is important because the film doesn't really add anything to the Irish film canon. If it manages to escape it's local appeal (because (apart from Don Cheadle) it remains quite parochial) and appeal to a wider audience then that is an achievement. (I think that this was one of McDonagh's complaint's about the Irish film industry.)

u.

BTW, avoid 'Calvary', I've been told that it is a complete mess.

The film certainly achieves the goal of 'wider appeal' [but was films only having 'local appeal' ever a problem with films coming out of the Irish film industry?]

re The new film - I've seen a few trailers that didn't give much away, but one workmate who loved the Guard, also was bowled over by it. In fairmess the same director did the 'In Bruges' film which my collegue also loved, but I didn't go massively on, so it's swings and roundabouts all the way down .

peter wrote:The film certainly achieves the goal of 'wider appeal' [but was films only having 'local appeal' ever a problem with films coming out of the Irish film industry?]

Lots of films made in Ireland don't ever make it beyond the island because they are too insular. Some of the bigger budget ones do: 'My Left Foot', 'The Field', 'Michael Collins', 'The Wind that Shakes the Barley' etc., but in general the very locally focused ones don't travel well e.g. 'Adam and Paul', 'The Garage'.

I think it's a combination of subject matter and budget. If you only have a small budget you might as well attend to the subject matter and try and produce something worthy, if of limited appeal. If you have a sufficient budget you can go for something more formulaic with the local element added as something extra.

peter wrote:re The new film - I've seen a few trailers that didn't give much away, but one workmate who loved the Guard, also was bowled over by it. In fairmess the same director did the 'In Bruges' film which my collegue also loved, but I didn't go massively on, so it's swings and roundabouts all the way down .

It's got a rating of 89% on Rotten Tomatoes, so there may be more to it than the reports I've received have conveyed. Check it out and let us know what you think!

u.