Double Feature

It was double feature night at our house Saturday. The first movie was The Guard. I hadn’t read anything about it, so I didn’t have any idea what to expect. Brendan Gleeson is a policeman in a small Irish village and Don Cheadle is an FBI agent who has come over from the states to investigate and foil a huge drug operation. The Irish accents were really thick and I know I missed some dialogue. I love mysteries set in England, Ireland, Scotland, etc. so that’s probably why I liked it. Even drug smuggling and corrupt officials seem more interesting when they’re not in the U.S. As a retired school librarian, I must point out that some of the language used by Sergeant Boyle is very clear and not at all suitable for young ears! And much of the humor is not “politically correct” or tasteful. Doesn’t bother me, but I’m sure some of you are more conservative, so I’m just warning you. Gleeson was nominated for a Golden Globe and while he didn’t win, he certainly deserves kudos for a great performance. Seeing Don Cheadle, in his FBI suit and tie, going door to door in the pouring rain and finding that the inhabitants only spoke Gaelic was priceless.

Moneyball was the second feature. This one I had read too much about! Yes, it was good, well acted and an inspirational story , but it is all about managing a baseball team, start to finish. You get small glimpses that there is life outside the sport, but you have to look for them. The parts I enjoyed most were the scenes with Brad Pitt (Billy Beane)and his daughter, played by Kerris Dorsey, and the flashbacks to Billy’s childhood and rise and fall as a player. I liked it, but not as much as the critics.