It’s like the old Irish proverb says: Nothing can ruin a good cup of tea like running afoul of an international cocaine smuggling ring.

"The Guard"

In the often funny, often indecipherable Irish comedy “The Guard,” Brendan Gleeson plays Sergeant Gerry Boyle, the unorthodox but honest cop who patrols rural County Galway in Ireland. Boyle is no saint – he has a standing arrangement with the local escort service and enjoys sampling the occasional clubs drugs he pulls from the pockets of delinquent teens. When a local crime figure is found with a professionally placed bullet in his head, Boyle regards the death as a proper comeuppance, more a paperwork nuisance than a crime.

But as played by Gleeson in a rich comic performance, Boyle also has a shaggy nobility and a rigid code of honor. He protects the local kids, visits his ailing mum, and stubbornly defies his better-dressed, on-the-take superiors down at headquarters. Boyle’s routine is disrupted, however, with the discovery of a major cocaine smuggling operation in sleepy Galway.

Enter the straitlaced FBI agent Wendell Everett, played by the usually infallible Don Cheadle. Boyle and Everett proceed to investigate the case and get on each other’s nerves in classic buddy cop style. “The Guard” has plenty of funny scenes, most of which rely on Gleeson’s proficiency with colorfully profane Irish idioms. The bad guys – a trio of semi-competent drug runners led by tough guy Mark Strong (“Sherlock Holmes”) – have some good routines, too. In one funny scene, Strong’s character despairs over the state of the world when the hayseed Galway cops don’t even know how to handle a proper pay-off.

Cheadle gets a few good laughs as the fish-out-of-water American, but seems to be idling for much of the movie. As he’s demonstrated in other films, like the “Ocean’s 11” franchise, Cheadle can steal scenes at will with his comic chops and high-octane charisma. With “The Guard,” he never quite puts it into gear.

Director John Michael McDonagh, working from his own script, keeps the energy up with a brisk pace and a playful visual style of bright primary colors. He also gives the characters room to breathe, extending scenes for throwaway dialogue digressions in Tarantino style. Many snappy jokes are made at the expense of, oh, Bertrand Russell, Disneyland, racism, Derringer pistols, Chet Baker … these sorts of things.

As the title suggests, “The Guard” is focused on its protagonist and is best appreciated as an artfully comic character study. The buddy-cop nonsense and crime procedural elements are really just there to give Gleeson’s portrait something to hang on. The film has one rather big problem, though: Gleeson’s thick Irish brogue is often literally indecipherable. I grew up with Scotch-Irish uncles who slipped into Gaelic after too many whiskey sours, but Gleeson’s mumbly, rapid-fire line readings and tortured phrasings had me wishing for subtitles several times.

It’s some weird testament to the script and performances that I found the movie as funny as I did, because I think I missed about half the jokes.

Grade: B
Director: John Michael McDonagh
Cast: Brendan Gleeson, Don Cheadle, Mark Strong, Fionnula Flanagan
Length: 1 hour, 36 minutes Rated R for pervasive language, some violence, drug material and sexual content
www.sonyclassics.com/theguard

originally published in the Raleigh News & Observer

It’s no secret that the newspaper business is in trouble. Dozens of papers across the U.S. have folded in the face of rising distribution costs, declining ad revenue and competition from digital sources.

“Page One: Inside the New York Times” is a fascinating documentary that roots into the challenges the industry faces, by focusing on America’s flagship newspaper, The New York Times.

You don’t have to be a policy wonk or media nerd to enjoy “Page One” – but it helps. From the first frame, director Andrew Rossi dives into the deep end of the pool, trusting that his audience is sophisticated enough to keep up.

Rossi eschews voiceover, and we’re often dropped into the middle of newsroom meetings where journalists are debating – passionately and sometimes profanely – some fine point of public policy or journalistic ethics.

It’s quite thrilling, if you’re at all into this kind of thing. And it’s always nice when a film assumes its viewers are just as smart as its subjects.

Documentary filmmakers are always looking for a central character who can anchor a film, and “Page One” finds its charismatic lead in media columnist David Carr. Irascible and funny, with a raspy voice and buzzard-like posture, Carr steals every scene he’s in. Clearly a born wordsmith, he seems to speak in fully formed paragraphs, with language that’s impossibly precise and sometimes even poetic.

Heaven help you if you get on his bad side, or dare to criticize his newspaper. The film’s funniest scenes are those in which Carr issues verbal smackdowns to critics, competitors and anyone else in range. In one terrific sequence, Carr interrupts the editor of Vice magazine, who questions the Times’ reporting in Africa.

“Just because you put on a (expletive) safari hat and went in there for three weeks doesn’t give you the right to insult what we do,” Carr scolds. The Vice editor, duly terrified, starts backpedaling instantly. It’s fun to watch.

“Page One” covers a lot of territory. Director Rossi and his team filmed for a full year inside the paper’s New York offices, from 2009 through 2010. During that period, the Times laid off more than 100 of its newsroom staff, weathered criticism over its partnership with Wikileaks and moved its website to a paid subscription model.

The film regularly pauses to look back, as well. Archival film reels from the 1950s are fun to watch, as hardboiled reporters chain-smoke and argue over giant conference tables. Interviews with old-school guys like Gay Talese and Carl Bernstein are reminders of the paper’s rich heritage.

Probably the film’s most disturbing passages are those in which the paper’s writers and editors speculate on the uncertain future of print journalism. In one scene, reporters are shown covering the release of Apple’s iPad and later reading their stories displayed on the device.

Rossi inserts a clip of Rupert Murdoch heralding the iPad as the savior of the newspaper business. Carr and his boss, media editor Bruce Headlam, are much more skeptical and very hesitant indeed about relying on another company for their distribution.

As a documentary film, however, “Page One” ultimately lacks focus. With its attention split among various storylines, the movie feels scattered. It’s a little stuffy, too. If it weren’t for Carr’s surly jokes, the film would have no laughs at all.

Well, it’s official. Ed Helms is a movie star. And he can thank his director for that.

The former “Daily Show” correspondent and veteran ensemble player (“The Hangover,” “The Office”) headlines “Cedar Rapids,” the year’s first genuine sleeper comedy hit. As it turns out, “Cedar Rapids” was directed by Miguel Arteta, author of last year’s sleeper comedy hit, the Michael Cera freakout “Youth in Revolt.”

This is particularly relevant, because the success of “Cedar Rapids” comes as much from Arteta’s sure-handed direction as it does with Helms’ leading performance.

It goes like this: Small town insurance agent Tim Lippe (Helms) is recruited to attend the industry’s regional conference in the (relatively) big city of Cedar Rapids, Iowa. Tim, who has never left his hometown and is dating his grade school teacher (Sigourney Weaver), is overjoyed but ill-prepared. If naivete were potato chips, Tim would be Frito-Lay.

A gentle and earnest soul, Tim sincerely believes insurance agents are put on the planet to help people. But in the harsh metropolis of Cedar Rapids, he discovers another side of the business: a cruel and shallow money trench, as Hunter Thompson might describe it, where thieves and pimps run free, and good men die like dogs.

A less interesting comedy would start coasting at this point, making fun of the local rubes and riding the basic premise of little-fish-in-a-slightly-bigger-pond. But “Cedar Rapids” has more interesting plans for its characters and scenarios.

Tim eventually makes some pals at the convention – John C. Reilly as an obnoxious salesman Dean Ziegler; Isiah Whitlock Jr. as straight arrow Ronald Wilkes; and a terrific Anne Heche as party girl Joan Fox.

In the manner of professional conference attendees since the dawn of time, the four bond over shop talk and drink overpriced cocktails in the hotel bar. Then the interesting things start to happen, and much of the joy of the movie is watching the script and the actors peel off in unexpected directions.

I don’t want to spoil anything, but it won’t hurt to list some of the elements these intrepid insurance agents encounter in the moral cesspool of Cedar Rapids, Iowa: Bribery. Corruption. Adultery. Drunken skinny-dipping. Hookers. Methamphetamines. Hookers on methamphetamines. Rob Corddry with a neck tattoo. Things of this nature.

Low-key humor

“Cedar Rapids” provides a lot of good laughs along the way – the sort of laughs that grow organically from the characters and situations. Reilly steals every scene he’s in with eye-poppingly profane anecdotes, and Whitlock has one scene in particular that might be the funniest of the whole film. And it’s great to see the talented comedienne Heche back in action, too.

Meanwhile, Helms does the smart thing and simply reacts to the slow-motion train wreck his weekend has become. By underplaying the farcical elements, he gets more and better laughs.

Director Arteta and the ensemble recognize that Helms’ humor is understated, and build the film around him accordingly. It’s a skillful approach, and it works wonders. Put a more rambunctious comic in the middle of this movie – Will Ferrell, say – and the delicate tone would be ruined.

A very pleasant surprise indeed, “Cedar Rapids” is a funny script well-executed by a great cast. If the universe were at all just, or even moderately discerning, it would be ruling the box office this spring.

127 Hours

Thriller-drama; rated R for language and some disturbing violent content/bloody images; also available on Blu-ray

The Gist: Trapped by a falling boulder, rock climber Aron Ralston (James Franco) survives for five days – recording his ordeal on a handheld camera and eventually using a dull knife to amputate his own arm.

The Lowdown: The film for which the term “harrowing” was apparently invented, “127 Hours” is hard on the stomach, for obvious reasons. But director Danny Boyle (“Slumdog Millionaire”) works some weird miracles here in terms of filmmaking creativity.

As Aron’s mental and physical condition deteriorates, Boyle departs from the straight narrative with sequences of Aron’s hallucinations and dreams of family and friends. The movie then enters a kind of timeless space, and Franco delivers a performance that seems to tap into some universal life force. “There is no force more powerful than the will to live,” the film’s tagline informs us. Franco – robbed of the Best Actor Oscar last week, IMHO – will make you believe.

The Extras: A must-listen commentary track with director Boyle; deleted scenes; Blu-ray adds two mini-docs on Franco and Boyle’s collaboration and the real-life details of Ralston’s ordeal

The Bottom Line: Most assuredly one of last year’s best films, “127 Hours” is a marvel of storytelling verve.

Double Secret Bonus Tip: Careful with that amputation scene – several audience members feinted straight away during the film’s theatrical release.

Love and Other Drugs

Comedy-drama; strong sexual content, nudity, pervasive language, and some drug material; also available on Blu-ray

The Gist: Pharmaceutical sales rep Jamie Randall (Jake Gyllenhaal) falls for terminally ill hipster babe Maggie Murdock (Anne Hathaway) during Big Pharma’s go-go 1990s heyday.

The Lowdown: Director Edward Zwick (“Glory”) seems to have two movies on his hands with this uneven comedy-drama, based on a nonfiction book about a freewheeling pharmaceutical rep. The funniest and most interesting material concerns drug companies and their 1990s hard sell of miracle pills like Zolofit and Viagra.

The movie’s other movie, as it were, is the love story between Jamie and Maggie. The film’s infamous sex scenes between Hathaway and Gyllenhaal don’t disappoint, but all the naked fun is rather brutally undercut by the half-baked dying-girl melodrama.

The Extras: Extended and deleted scenes; four mini-docs on the characters and production details

The Bottom Line: You’ll come for the sex scenes, but you’ll stay for the later sex scenes!

Double Secret Bonus Tip: “Love” makes the case that, between them, Hathaway and Gyllenhaal may have the dreamiest four eyes in show business.

Bambi: Diamond Edition

Classic animation; rated G; also available on Blu-ray

The Gist: Forest fawn Bambi joins with pals Thumper and Flower to learn about loyalty, love and the circle of life.

The Lowdown: The latest in Disney’s “Diamond Edition” series of DVD/Blu-ray re-issues, “Bambi” remains one of the crowning achievements of classic animation. Watching it again for the first time since I was in grade school – this time with my own kids in attendance – I was astounded at how beautifully it’s all put together.

The music and sound elements in particular struck me this go-around. The film earned three Academy Award nominations in 1942: Best Sound, Best Song (for “Love Is a Song”) and Original Music Score. Head’s up, though – the famous sequence concerning the death of Bambi’s mom is as heavy as it ever was. Tears were shed, and it wasn’t the kids crying, either.

The Extras: Deleted scenes and songs; several interactive features for both kids (forest facts) and grown-ups (making-of docs); the 1937 Disney short “The Old Mill.”

The Bottom Line: Another generous Disney reissue package from the vaults.

Double Secret Bonus Tip: The single-disc DVD edition comes out April 19.

Quick Picks: Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson headlines the derivative action thriller “Faster,” an OK rental pick for fans of the man, the genre, or muscle cars.

Also New This Week: The musical “Burlesque” with Christina Aguilera and Cher; the faith-based surfer doc “Walking on Water” and TV-on-DVD season collections from “Leave it to Beaver,” “The Beverly Hillbillies” and UK procedural drama “Murder Investigation Team.”

Megamind

Animated comedy; rated PG for action and some language; also available on Blu-ray

The Gist: Yet another animated send-up of comic book heroes and villains, “Megamind” brings the funny for both kids and adults.

The Lowdown: For my kids’ entertainment dollar – and I spend quite a lot of them – “Megamind” was the best animated comedy of last year, just ahead of “How To Train Your Dragon.” Similar in premise to the second runner-up, “Despicable Me,” “Megamind” concerns the fate of a cartoon supervillain turned hero.

Evil genius Megamind, voiced by Will Ferrell, is the archnemesis of Metro Man (Brad Pitt) and the designated bad guy of Metro City. But when Megamind finally vanquishes his foe, he discovers that being a supervillain is no fun unless you have a superhero to plot against.

Ferrell and Tina Fey, as TV reporter and perpetual kidnapping victim Roxanne Ritchie, provide a running comedic banter that keeps the movie genuinely funny for adults. As the extras reveal, Fey and Ferrell recorded and improvised their scenes together, which almost never happens in voiceover work. Meanwhile, the ace animation team provides lively action scenes and elaborate head bonks for the shorter set.

Extras: The Blu-ray/DVD combo pack features filmmaker’s commentary track; about a dozen interactive mini-docs, picture-in-picture elements and interviews; a trivia track; deleted scenes and the all-new animated short “The Button of Doom.”

The Bottom Line: To some degree, all animated comedies aim to appeal to kids and parents both; “Megamind” manages to play to each crowd surprisingly well.

Double Secret Bonus Tip: Freeze-framing reveals that Megamind’s Dehydration gun has several other settings, including Demoralize, Deregulate and Decoupage.

Leaving

Drama; unrated (equivalent to an R rating for sex, nudity and some violence)

The Gist: Weary of her bourgeois life and emotionally chilly husband, forty-something Suzanne (Kristin Scott Thomas) embarks on a reckless and possibly deadly affair with the Spanish handyman.

The Lowdown: Titled “Partir” in the original French, “Leaving” plays like a Gallic Lifetime movie-of-the-week, upgraded with beautiful cinematography and a lovely lead performance by Kristin Scott Thomas.

Lest that sound like damning with faint praise … well, it kind of is, I guess. Thomas and director Catherine Corsini work like crazy to class up the joint, but the script is riddled with old cliches and poor choices. Suzanne’s actions, by the end of the story, are neither plausible nor conscionable.

But it sure is fun to watch Thomas tear up the place trying to provide us with somebody to root for. Thomas has been making the best movies of her career out of France for a while now – check out the great 2006 thriller “Tell No One” for a nice double-feature bill.

The Extras: In French with English subtitles; a single theatrical trailer.

The Bottom Line: A wobbly but lusty drama redeemed by fine acting.

Double Secret Bonus Tip: Thomas was nominated for Best Actress for the role at the 2009 Cesar Awards, France’s version of the Oscars.

See What I’m Saying

Documentary; unrated (safe for kids)

The Gist: A fascinating documentary about the challenges of four deaf entertainers – an actor, a comic, a singer and a hard rock drummer.

The Lowdown: “See What I’m Saying” is a pretty amazing piece of work. The four performers profiled each have specific stories, and the film fascinates as human drama even as it educates about deaf entertainers and deaf culture in general .

The comic CJ Jones, for instance, is hugely popular in the deaf community, but struggles constantly to cross over to hearing audiences. The partially deaf singer TL Forsberg – who must hold notes by muscle memory – finds herself rejected by both the deaf and the hearing world.

Filmmaker Hilari Scarl uses clever techniques to immerse the viewer in the stories. In one New York city street sequence, she replicates on the sound track what it’s like to have the hearing of actor Robert DeMayo – a nearby jackhammer registers as a dull thumping, for instance. DeMayo goes on to explain how he compensates with superior visual sense, pointing out impossible-to-spot details all around. “Deaf people,” he says, “have no trouble with ‘Where’s Waldo’ books.

Interesting note: The film is presented with “open captioning” – including onscreen subtitles translating sign language for hearing viewers.

The Extras: About an hour’s worth of additional performances, deleted scenes, interviews and bloopers.

The Bottom Line: “See What I’m Saying” enlightens and entertains, while avoiding any preachiness or melodrama.

Double Secret Bonus Tip: Drummer Bob Hiltermann’s rock band? “Beethoven’s Nightmare.”

Quick Picks

• Director Christopher Nolan (“Inception”) made his first big splash with the thriller “Memento,” starring Guy Pierce as a man unable to create new memories. Out this week in a new 10^th anniversary Blu-ray edition, the package includes a director’s commentary track and a couple mini-docs that break down the film’s inventive reverse-chronology structure.
• For the discerning ironist, “Birdemic: Shock and Terror” is the latest so-bad-it’s-good cult film to make the rounds. A dirt cheap knockoff of Hitchcock’s “The Birds,” the film features special effects so bad they’re hallucinogenic, and actually had a decent run in midnight movie theaters last year.
• Even if you watch it for all the wrong reasons, the lesbian seduction drama “Room in Rome,” starring Elena Anaya (“Sex and Lucia”) and Natasha Yarovenko (Diary of a Nymphomaniac”), will surprise you with its gorgeous cinematography and lingering European melancholy.
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Also New This Week: “A Film Unfinished,” regarding archival Nazi propaganda films; indie horror flicks “Psych: 9” and “Stag Night” from Sam Raimi’s Ghost House Underground series; and TV-on-DVD season collections from “Nurse Jackie,” “Weeds,” “Huge,” “The Guild” and the improbably awesome “Ice Road Truckers.”