The Playboys (1992)

User Rating:

6.3/10   

Director:

Gillies MacKinnon

Writers:

Shane Connaughton (writer)
Kerry Crabbe (writer)

Release Date:

22 April 1992 (USA)

Genre:

Drama | Romance

Plot:

A young woman, Tara Maguire (Robin Wright) scandalizes her provincial Irish village in the 1950s by having a baby out of a wedlock...

Plot Keywords:

Love | Sin | Jealousy | Circus | Independent Film

Awards:

1 win

Cast

Albert Finney	...	Constable Brendan Hegarty
Aidan Quinn	...	Tom Casey
Robin Wright Penn	...	Tara Maguire (as Robin Wright)
Milo O'Shea	...	Freddie
Alan Devlin	...	Malone
Niamh Cusack	...	Brigid Maguire
Ian McElhinney	...	Joe Cassidy
Stella McCusker	...	Rachel
Niall Buggy	...	Denzil
Anna Livia Ryan	...	Vonnie
Adrian Dunbar	...	Mick
Lorcan Cranitch	...	Ryan / John Joe
Aine Ni Mhuiri	...	Mrs. Smith the Blind Lady
Doreen Hepburn	...	Nualla Ryan
Kilian McKenna	...	Sean

Runtime:

117 min | Argentina:109 min | Spain:108 min

Country:

USA | UK | Ireland

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Sound Mix:

Dolby SR

Certification:

Iceland:L | Argentina:13 | Australia:PG | Spain:T | USA:PG-13

Filming Locations:

Redhills Village, County Cavan, Ireland

Company:

Green Umbrella Ltd.

Trivia:

Annette Bening was originally going to play Tara but had to drop out because she was pregnant.

Movie Connections:

Features Wuthering Heights (1939)

A band of strolling players are we!

This film was billed as a drama. You could have fooled me. The productions of the travelling group of thespians are the funniest things I have ever seen.

Forget the plot about the young unwed mother with two suitors and just watch the hilarious performances of the rag-tag travelling gypsy players who tour Ireland performing in a threadbare tent, led by the flamboyant actor manager played with gusto by Milo O'Shea. For those of you who are not familiar with this great Irish stage actor, Mr. O'Shea played Sam Malone's Irish Uncle in the Woody's Wedding two-part episode of Cheers, on TV.

The troupe of players are not above changing the script to accommodate whatever actors or costumes are available, and they open up with a song and dance act, no matter what the play. Lines are read from cue cards, and even made up as they go along. Even Othello begins with a can can. You will never be able to watch Gone with the Wind with a straight face again after you have seen it performed as a musical in a tent in a small Irish town. I have not laughed as much since I saw the theatrical troupe in a Midsummer Night's Dream.

The lead actors, Robin Wright and Aidan Quinn make an attractive couple, and Albert Finney does well as the heavy, but it is the players who make this movie such a joy.