"I'll either get a parking ticket every time I leave the house or I'll never get another one..." is how actor Brendan Gleeson has reportedly believed his portrayal of an Irish policeman in hit comedy The Guard will go down with the real-life fuzz.
Bearing this in mind made a trip to New Scotland Yard potentially interesting. Of all the times I've been asked to present myself at the Yard, this was one of the more welcome invitations - to watch a screening of The Guard in the company of a group of policemen and women, and assess whether Gleeson's antics were met with informed laughter or stony silence.
Having passed through the security checks and rocked from foot to foot nervously in the staff bar, it was time to settle ourselves in the briefing room while some of the country's sharpest crime-solving minds attempted to come to grips with the audio-visual system so the film could begin.
Not sure how often this hardworking bunch get the chance to socialise together, but on this occasion, they resembled nothing so much as teenagers on a school outing - keen to make mischief, shout at the screen if they could but also ready to be amused. Let's run VT...
Incredibly smart or incredibly stupid? FBI agent Everett, played by Don Cheadle, can't decide what to make of Garda sergeant Boyle - Brendan Gleeson - when he is drafted in from help the local constabulary hunt down some lethal drug-traffickers.
It would be fair to say Boyle stands apart from the rest of his squad. His Y-fronts and resident whisky bottle reveal a man without a female influence in his life, whose cavorting with young ladies - paid for - later leaves him compromised when dealing with the local villainy.
But he is also the man who knows and understands this case better than anyone else, it seems, and the only policeman impervious to bribes. Meanwhile, his gentle, mocking relationship with his fragile mother attests to something deeper, only hinted at in his other relationships, and his monosyllabic packing up of her things is moving in its understatement.
Meanwhile, his partnership with the smooth Everett is relatively free of many buddy-cop clichés. Gleeson and Cheadle both give the impression of being too intelligent to fall into cheesy acting traps, plus the script is plenty sharp enough for them to take it in an interesting direction. The final denouement is neat and satisfying.
The Emmy Award-winning Gleeson (Harry Potter films, In Bruges, TV's Into the Storm)is known for his impeccable comedic timing, but he also lends a surprising fatalistic gravity to this black comedy-thriller, and deserves all the accolades he's getting for this Local Hero for the Garda.
And what did our informed critics think? At New Scotland Yard, there were loud laughs in all the right places, with special chuckles reserved for any mentions of the British security services. Somehow, I don't think Brendan Gleeson will be getting many parking tickets for a while.
The Guard is available on DVD now. Watch the trailer below: