John Michael McDonagh is worth watching for sharp dialogue and the actors he trusts with it. The Guard makes the case for him, though its lopsided partnership and slack investigation also show his limitations.
Fi1m perspective
In The Guard (2011), Don Cheadle listens while Brendan Gleeson tests how much annoyance he can cause. McDonagh gives Gleeson's contrary Irish sergeant most of the provocations and Cheadle's FBI agent the task of deciding how to receive them. We laughed at Cheadle's patient calculation of whether taking offence would only prolong the conversation. That quiet work matters as much as the rude dialogue. McDonagh is worth watching for exchanges like these, though we wish he gave the investigation the same attention.
The limitation is already there in the partnership: Cheadle's Wendell Everett gets fewer opportunities to surprise us than Gleeson's Boyle. McDonagh writes a good provocation, but too often leaves the other actor with little to do beyond absorbing it. Gleeson keeps Boyle interesting by suggesting that something besides a wish to annoy is occupying him. That gives us a reason to stay with the man even when the investigation dawdles. For a 96-minute police comedy, it spends a surprising amount of time in no particular hurry.
The Guard was his feature directing debut. Calvary (2014), his second collaboration with Gleeson, concerned a priest facing his community, bringing faith more directly into his work. With War on Everyone (2016), he moved into American-set crime comedy with new leads. The Forgiven (2021), an adaptation exploring guilt and atonement in a desert setting, took him away from the police partnership again. The later films have received more mixed reviews than the earlier Irish-set work, though their subjects suggest no retreat towards more agreeable company.
We would not ask McDonagh to make his characters more agreeable; their friction is much of the pleasure. We would ask him to give the person receiving the insults as much freedom as the person delivering them. In The Guard, Cheadle's quieter responses show how much a sharp script can gain by letting someone listen. Start there, provided a good exchange matters more to the evening than an urgent investigation.
Biography
John Michael McDonagh is a British-Irish filmmaker and screenwriter. He wrote and directed the comedy The Guard (2011), which earned him a BAFTA nomination for Best Original Screenplay, and followed it with Calvary (2014).
His other credits as writer and director include War on Everyone (2016) and The Forgiven (2021). He wrote the screenplay for Ned Kelly (2003). McDonagh was born in London in 1967 and is the brother of playwright and filmmaker Martin McDonagh.
