YMMV / The Guard

• Funny Moments:
  • "I thought only black lads could be drug dealers".
  • Gerry getting dressed into his best uniform at the end and closing the wardrobe. The audience is greeted to Gerry armed with a Kalashnikov.
  • "Bozo ... the (nods to McBride to copy the information down) ... fucking ... Clown."
  • "There were gay lads in the IRA?" "Well, one or two, yeah. It was the only way we could successfully infiltrate the MI5."
• Magnificent Bastard: Francis Sheehy-Skeffington and his partner Clive Cornell are a pair of affable international drug dealers seeking to smuggle millions of dollars' worth of cocaine into Ireland. Murdering one of their partners on suspicions of being an informant and masking his death as an occult killing to throw off police, Sheehy and Cornell also use a set of circumstances to throw blame on a random drunkard. When Sergeant Gerry Boyle begins investigating them, the duo try to blackmail and bribe him, expressing respect at the man's principles when he refuses both. Ultimately using their police connections to pay off corrupt officials and distract federal agents from the drug shipment, Sheehy and Cornell nearly succeed, with both facing death at Boyle's hands with surprising grace and—in Cornell's case—even complimenting Boyle on his lethal shooting skills.
• One-Scene Wonder: Pat Shortt as IRA man Colum Hennessey. The fact that he and Gerry are on pretty good terms despite being on opposite sides of the law makes it all the more hilarious.
• Quirky Work: It's an Irish homage to Dirty Harry that features constant swearing, dark humor, and appropriate Black-and-Grey Morality.