Brendan Gleeson turns 69 years young on March 29, and this Dublin native has entertained movie and television audiences since 1989. With 110 credits (in IMDb) to his name, the Academy finally recognized this charismatic thespian with a 2023 Best Supporting Actor Oscar nomination for his memorable role as a former best friend hell-bent on self-harm in Martin McDonagh’s “The Banshees of Inisherin”. His fans have supported his work for decades, and in celebration of the man’s birthday, here are three memorable Gleeson performances you should see right now.
Happy Birthday, Brendan and Sláinte!
Bunny Kelly, “I Went Down” (1997) – “He’s a good man,” Mr. French (Tony Doyle) says. He’s referring to Bunny Kelly (Gleeson), a 40-something ex-con who sports demonstrable red mutton chops and a curt, no-nonsense persona. Bunny works for Mr. French, a small-time, small-town mobster, so look, his testimonial is in the eye of the beholder. Well, director Paddy Breathnach’s vision of a cool buddy-movie crime caper is realized, thanks to Conor McPherson’s snappy script, tone-setting frames of rural, working-class spots in County Kildare and County Offaly, and a cast of characters led by Bunny and his new and unwilling 20-something “business partner” Git Hynes (Peter McDonald). Git gets himself in a wee bit of trouble with Mr. French, so Bunny and he must stumble across the Irish countryside on a hazardous errand for him. Gleeson and McDonald’s odd-couple energy bursts with tension and “guy humor” as Bunny regularly hands tricky tasks to Git - like entering an unfriendly pub to gather information and crossing a rugged bog - while our red-headed middle-aged fella catches up on his reading. Even though their working relationship falls into predictable spaces, their engaging chemistry and witty banter will glue audiences to the screen while they stick together in several stolen automobiles.
(3 out of 4 stars)
Police Sergeant Gerry Boyle, “The Guard” (2011) – Director/writer John Michael McDonagh’s detective story opens with a group of young adults - in a red sports car – buzzing by Sergeant Gerry Boyle (Gleeson), who sits idly in his parked, modest police vehicle. Before you can say “recklessly speeding,” they fatally crash in a one-car accident. Well, Gerry strolls to the wreck, finds drugs, and nonchalantly ingests a tab of the kids’ LSD. That’s just one of countless unexpected and hilarious hits in “The Guard”. Most on-screen players cannot get a read on this seemingly unassuming sergeant, including FBI Agent Wendell Everett (Don Cheadle), who visits County Galway to stop a 500-million-dollar drug deal. Everett needs Boyle’s help to accomplish any police work, as McDonagh tilts into unusual (to Everett) Western Ireland culture, and our American agent cannot decipher Gerry’s code either. “I can’t tell if you’re really mother f***ing dumb or really mother f***ing smart,” Everett says. Well, Gleeson playfully gives the audience clues – throughout the 96-minute runtime - in an ingenious, comedic effort.
(3.5 out of 4 stars)
Father James, “Calvary” (2014) – John Michael McDonagh and Gleeson team up again in a dark, unsettling mystery set in a drop-dead gorgeous coastal community in County Sligo. Drop-dead is apropos because an unknown man enters Father James’ (Gleeson) confessional and declares that he will kill the man of the cloth in one week. This unidentified individual reveals that another priest molested him for five years, but he will take his vengeance on Father James, who is a decent man. This exceptionally well-crafted whodunit pits the father – while making his rounds - against a litany of nefarious characters in town. For the audience, the specific threatening menace could be anyone. Well, almost anyone, as an American writer Gerald Ryan (M. Emmet Walsh), a fellow priest and bishop, a recent widow, and James’ daughter Fiona (Kelly Reilly) are friendly faces, but just about everyone else addresses him with contempt, dismissiveness, or resentment, or they are just plain suspicious. Gleeson delivers a layered, beautifully nuanced performance, as James’ patience wears thin with the thick-headed disdain and the constant messages of death, violence, and firearms that surround him. “Calvary” went criminally unnoticed during award season. McDonagh’s thought-provoking masterpiece is one of 2014’s best. It deserved Oscar nominations for Picture, Director, Screenplay, Score, and Actor. This critic prays that moviegoers catch this film on DVD or a streaming service.
(4 out of 4 stars)
