The Guard (2011 film)

The Guard
The Guard
	Theatrical release poster
Directed by	John Michael McDonagh
Written by	John Michael McDonagh
Produced by	Chris Clark; Flora Fernandez-Marengo; Ed Guiney; Andrew Lowe;
Starring	Brendan Gleeson; Don Cheadle; Mark Strong; Liam Cunningham; Fionnula Flanagan;
Cinematography	Larry Smith
Edited by	Chris Gill
Music by	Calexico
Production; companies	Irish Film Board; Reprisal Films; Element Pictures; Crescendo Productions; Aegis Film Fund; Prescience; RTÉ; UK Film Council;
Distributed by	Element Pictures (Ireland); Optimum Releasing (United Kingdom);
Release dates	20 January 2011 (Sundance Film Festival); 7 July 2011 (Ireland);
Running time	93 minutes
Countries	Ireland; United Kingdom;
Languages	English; Irish;
Budget	$6 million
Box office	$21.2 million

The Guard is a 2011 buddy cop comedy film written and directed by John Michael McDonagh, starring Brendan Gleeson, Don Cheadle, Mark Strong and Liam Cunningham.

The film received critical acclaim and was a box office success. Both Gleeson and Cheadle received acclaim for their performances, with Gleeson receiving a Golden Globe Award nomination. McDonagh was in turn nominated for a BAFTA Award for his writing achievement. It is the most successful independent Irish film of all time in terms of Irish box-office receipts, overtaking The Wind that Shakes the Barley (2006).