'The Guard' cracks the case

The best lines in "The Guard," a winningly sardonic comedy about a foul-mouthed Irish cop, are not printable here, which is a shame. There's a twinkling, distinctively Gaelic poetry in almost every word, especially the four-letter ones.

Brendan Gleeson, perhaps best known as "Mad-Eye" Moody in the "Harry Potter" films, plays Gerry Boyle, a cynical sergeant in rural Connemara who's more concerned with order than law, strictly speaking. He'll discreetly remove drugs from a young man's corpse ("I don't think your mum would be too pleased"), then take a little evidence for himself. His informants include an IRA gunrunner and a small boy; both sometimes require a firm hand. As for romance, Boyle prefers to pay by the hour.

Following an unusually grisly murder, FBI man Wendell Everett (Don Cheadle, dependably solid) parachutes in to crack the case. He and Boyle get off on the wrong foot -- "I'm Irish, sir; racism is part of my culture" -- but the Ivy-educated Everett soon discovers that Boyle's country-bumpkin persona hides a canny, tough-minded detective. The two men eventually find a mutual respect based on, of all things, a sense of duty and honor.

Writer-director John Michael McDonagh has essentially fashioned an Irish Western, complete with galloping soundtrack. He sometimes overplays the quirkiness, as when he introduces a trio of Nietzsche-quoting drug-dealers (one played by Mark Strong, of "Green Lantern"). But all is forgiven when Gleeson is on the screen, punctuating his lines with an expression of disgust or, even funnier, no expression at all. It's a gem of a performance, with the perfect (and profane) touch of blarney.