And Gerry Boyle isn’t your ordinary Irish police office officer. Director and screenwriter, Michael McDonagh made sure that he wasn’t. Brendan Gleeson gives a "grand" (as my Irish grannie would say) performance as Sargeant Gerry Boyle, who happens to be in the county where "intelligence" has been received that a large cocaine shipment will be delivered. You may remember Gleeson from the Tom Cruise acting disaster of Far and Away, and after that as William Wallace in Braveheart.
One refreshing about this movie is the lack of en masse violence, car chases, and explosions , although it does have murders of officers and supposed informers. However the movie’s biggest strength is the character development of Gerry Boyle seen though scenes with his mother (as a loving and kind son), with his fellow officers (as a disrespectful and a dry comedian), with a boy in town ( as a fatherly authority figure), with the wife of his kidnapped co-worker ( as a compassionate and borderline lustful compatriate), with two hired ladies of the evening (as a bawdy and fun-loving dandy), and with the American FBI agent (as a curious fan of America who got his picture taken with Goofy at Disneyworld). As Boyle said in the film, "I’m Irish. Racism is a part of my culture." The choice of American music in the film was interesting, such as the "Ode to Billy Joe".
Don Cheadle plays FBI agent, Wendell Everett, dull as dishwater until the climactic scene when he gears up his performance a little. It’s a far cry from Cheadle’s best in Hotel Ruwanda as the hotel manager in 2004. Even less believable were the performances of the drug runners, who were stereotypes. Fortunately, these performances were not enough to spoil the movie for me.
If you are offended by rough language, this is not the movie for you. Otherwise, enjoy this well-written black comedy.
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