The Playboys (1992)

I think this is a new genre that they're all sort of working their way through it and haven't got all the kinks worked out yet but it's a genre that works for me.

Strong and Moving!

I don't have all the words right now but this film is a work of art.

This is a tender, generous movie that likes its characters and presents them as real people, full of flaws and strengths.

The Playboys is directed by Gillies MacKinnon, is written by Shane Connaughton and Kerry Crabbe. The film stars Robin Wright, Albert Finney, Aidan Quinn and Niamh Cusack.Ireland, in the 1950's. The occupants of a village are scandalised when Tara(Robin Wright)gets pregnant without being married, she refuses to say who the father is. Tara is ostracised by everyone in the village apart from her sister Brigid(Niamh Cusack)and the local policeman, Sergeant Hegarty(Albert Finney).Hegarty loves Tara very much but is much older than her and she doesn't love him. He tries to be kind to her and offers to help her with the baby, she throws all his kindness back in his face and he gets very angry. Matters aren't helped by the arrival of a group of travelling actors. Tara falls in love with one of them, the funny and passionate Tom Casey (Aidan Quinn). Their growing relationship enrages Hegarty and the two become rivals for Tara.Finney gives the standout performance in this for me, he perfectly conveys a man who is not used to showing his feelings but tries very hard for the woman he loves. Finney also does a good job of portraying this mans anger slowly building up and up until it has to be released, one of his very best performances. Robin Wright is superb as Tara, Robin makes her tough and passionate. Aidan is a great deal of fun as the handsome travelling actor who falls for Tara.

It is rural Ireland and yearly a traveling show comes to town. They call themselves "The Playboys" because they do lots of different things, but feature different plays put on in a very small tent and on a vary small stage with minimal set. In one funny scene, we see towns people going to the movie house to see the film, "Gone With The Wind", and the next evening the Playboys are doing their stage interpretation of the same story, improvising after seeing the movie.Aidan Quinn is Tom Casey, one of the members of the show troupe. He seems to be an irregular in that he doesn't plan to make it a career like the others.Robin Wright is in full Irish accent as local townswoman Tara Maguire, single, and sharing a residence with her less pretty sister. Tara is the town scandal because she is pregnant out of wedlock, and she refuses to say who the father is. She and Tom are immediately attracted to each other, although she tries to keep her distance from the traveling show types.The other key character is Albert Finney as Constable Brendan Hegarty. He is the sheriff in this one-police town. However his regional supervisor is not always happy with his efforts.As Tom gets friendly with Tara, Hegarty becomes agitated and protective, seemingly wanting to prevent Tara from falling for this guy.It is a fairly interesting and entertaining story, and the acting is first-rate, especially by Albert Finney.SPOILERS: It turns out Hegarty is the father of Tara's child, in one encounter in the grass after she had a bit too much to drink. While Hegarty is madly in love with her, and wants her as his wife, she has no romantic feelings for him. As the movie ends Tara and Tom leave town, their fate unknown.

In the tradition of low-key Anglo-European films, this is a brilliant depiction of the meeting of an independent spirit with a closed community. This is one of their own so they will not condemn absolutely. At the same time they cannot understand why, or how, anyone can take a radically different path. Paraphrasing Victor Borge, this is acting that is so low key it is off the keyboard but because of that it resonates in a register that affects absolutely. Absotutely brilliant. This is what real movies are all about. See it! I don't really have any more to say but the instructions are that one has to write a minimum of 10 lines and/or 10,000 words. Hopefully this entry meets that minimum requirement because if this entry convinces one more person to see this movie it will have been worth it.

This is a fine depiction of a small Irish village,in a green country where a woman has a baby whereas she's not married.And however she could,because,at the beginning of the movie,she had two men longing for her.But,and it's the only modern touch in a rather obsolete movie,she wants a man she really loves and she does not care about the piece of advice the well-meaning and the priests are always giving to her.Albert Finney has got a thankless part as the rather ugly cop, even if he's just a jealous guy.Robin Wright is a good lead.That said,it's not what you call full throttle ,and some people might think that the tempo is really slow.