These two films starring the wonderful Irish actor, BrendanGleeson, are both crime films about a couple of antiauthoritarian mavericks, one a crime lord and one a cop. In 1998’s The General, Gleeson plays Martin Cahill, in a biopic about the notorious Dublin gang leader, who, rising from very humble beginnings, became something of a Robin Hood folk hero in the 80’s and early 90’s for his ability to outwit, and even mock, the police while stealing from the wealthy (no evidence he gave to the poor, however). In the recent movie, The Guard, Gleeson plays Sergeant Gerry Boyle, a member of the Garda (i.e. a cop) in a small coastal town, who gets caught up, against his will, in an investigation of international drug smuggling, paired with an African-American FBI agent (Don Cheadle), with characteristic "buddy cop movie" results.
Gleeson has appeared in many, many films, mostly in supporting roles, over the years. Examples include Into the West (1992), Gangs of New York (2002), Cold Mountain (2003), Troy (2004), and most recently, several of the Harry Potter films, in which he played a memorable ‘Mad Eye‘ Moody. In 2008 he shared the lead in Martin McDonagh's In Bruges with Colin Farrell, but despite a fine performance, received less attention than his costar. In The General and The Guard, Gleeson is definitely the center of attention and in each his performance is riveting.
I confess that I love the mug on this guy, which juxtaposes an impish boyishness and a mature manliness. That, and Gleeson’s ability to express his character's thoughts and emotions subtly and unmistakably – through a wink or squint of his eye, a twitch of his mouth, a move of his eyebrow or whatever works. Gleeson can show us an infectious smile and in the next moment a stalwart, grim resolve. In so doing, we feel we know this guy, his character, in a way that dialogue or action alone could never convey. His amazing physiognomy sits atop a rather large, lumpish, definitely non-svelte body, all of which somehow adds to the attraction.
The General starts off with Cahill’s assassination by an IRA gunman, in front of his home in 1994 at age 45. The rest of the movie traces his life and career leading up to that point, starting with his youthful exploits, stealing food for his family, flipping off the chasing constable who cannot catch him, and highlighting some of his most famous and notorious exploits. Cahill is depicted as a guy who cannot abide constraints or authority, a freedom loving man, who nonetheless becomes less and less free the more successful he becomes. In the able hands of veteran director John Boorman (Deliverance, Hope and Glory, Excalibur), the film gives us a multidimensional picture of a complex guy: ruthless and cunning crime boss, loving father, man of the people, husband, hunted man, tough guy and sensitive guy. 
Along the way we catch glimpses of the people in Cahill’s world: Inspector Ned Kenny, the frustrated cop who understands him, but can’t catch him (well played by Jon Voight), his best friend Noel (Adrian Dunbar), the various characters in his gang of thieves, his supportive wife, Frances (Maria Doyle Kennedy) and her sister - and Cahill’s alternate ‘wife’ - Tina (Angeline Ball). Cahill seemed to enjoy his celebrity, but he famously shielded his face with his hand whenever cameras may have been present. This happens frequently in the movie, setting up an interesting challenge for the actor, which Gleeson meets quite successfully. 
The Guard is a fictional work, but its protagonist is a real, flesh and blood character. Sergeant Jerry Boyle likes to drink, consort with whores, subvert authority, and take care of crime in his coastal town according to his own idiosyncratic sense of what’s important and what’s not. He is unmarried, and seemingly uninterested in deep relationships, with women or with men. He is close with his mother (beautifully played by Fionnula Flanagan), but she is dying. He accepts the human condition with humor and resignation. Live and let live is his philosophy. Until, that is, an international drug trafficking operation lands on his shore, a neighbor and a colleague get killed (“mordurred”), and FBI agent Wendell Everett (Don Cheadle) demands his help.
Taking orders is not really Jerry’s thing. Being commandeered by a sophisticated, rule-bound, uptight, know-it-all American cop really gets his goat. That this cop is black is like hot sauce on his burrito. What starts as a lovely character study evolves into, first, an odd-couple comedy and then into a bit of action thriller. Writer and first time director John Michael McDonagh (brother of playwright/screenwriter Martin McDonough) makes all of this come together in an entertaining package. Gleeson makes this role his own, in perhaps the best performance of his career. His Jerry Boyle is annoying, funny, endearing, and, at his core, a man with a clear sense of self. Cheadle (Devil in a Blue Dress, Hotel Rwanda, Crash, etc) is always good; here, he plays a straight man to Gleeson, but he gives his character a palpaple integrity, and shows us his (and our) gradually developing recognition of Jerry Boyle’s hidden depths.
The General and The Guard are both excellent films, which I wholeheartedly recommend. (The recommendation comes with a proviso: if you are not Irish, you may have some difficulty catching all of the dialogue. If you have a DVD, you may want to engage the English subtitles. Without subtitles, I probably only clearly “got” about 50% of the dialogue in The General. I did a little better with The Guard, thanks to Cheadle’s presence, but conversations between the Irish were still tough. Even so, I enjoyed both movies.)
The General is available on Netflix streaming and DVD, Amazon instant video, and Hulu Plus. The Guard will be available on DVD and Blue-ray through Netflix on January 3, 2012
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