The Guard Directed by: John Michael McDonagh Starring: Brendan Gleeson, Don Cheadle, Mark Strong Rating: R Release Date: July 29, 2011

TRAILER SCORE: 7/10

Thoughts by TSR: This trailer took me by surprise. I hadn't heard about the film's production, and the opening of the trailer felt like "just another British film," but as the plot thickened, and Don Cheadle cropped up, my interest was piqued. I've loved Brendan Gleeson in everything I've seen him in, especially in Braveheart and In Bruges. He's certainly not a household name, but a household face perhaps? He's had a very illustrious career. My feelings are similar towards Don Cheadle, he's one of the most watchable actors out there. This trailer seems to pitch The Guard as a new breed of buddy film, as if Quentin Tarantino and/or Guy Ritchie were to apply their cheeky spin to the culture-clash as found in the Rush Hour films.

This trailer was very well put together, I enjoyed the music, the pacing, the acting, the dialog, pretty much everything about it. It looks to be a very funny film, and looks to be an impressive debut from director John Michael McDonagh. McDonagh's only previous work worthy of mention was writing the screenplay for Ned Kelly (which I enjoyed quite thoroughly). He wrote the screenplay for The Guard as well. I'm excited to see this film, and I hope that it lives up to its trailer.