The Playboys [DVD]

Good acting from all actors, especially Albert Finney gives a strong performance as well as Aidan Quinn's great acting.

In a small Irish town during the 1950's,a young woman- Tara maguire(Robin wright) causes a scandal when she has a baby out of wedlock & refuses to reveal who the babies father is.The towns sergeant Brendan(Albert finney) is in love with Tara & wants to marry her but she doesnt love him back so rejects his offer.When a theatre troupe arrives in town,Tara is intrigued by one of the actors Tom(Aidan quinn) & the pare strike up a friendship.This angers Brendan,he becomes thwarted by this new rival & goes out of his way to stop them from being together... This is a low key charming movie with a mix of comedy,drama & romance.The cast are flawless- Robin wright is believable as the small town feisty Irish girl & Aidan quinn is adorable as the sweet natured Tom but as usual it is Albert finney who steals the show with another wonderful powerful performance! Im not sure why i had never heard of this movie before but it is one that should definitely be more more well known!

"The Playboys,"(1992), is a drama/romance/comedy set in a pretty, provincial Irish village of the 1950's. The rural landscape of County Cavan is lovely in this film directed by Gillies MacKinnon, who was born in the urban, unlovely town of Glasgow, Scotland. The clothes, cars and houses look authentic and atmospheric, the dialogue's good, and there's plenty of "crac," that Irish wit. The movie, which is full of faces familiar from other Irish films, concerns one Tara Maguire, played by the American Robin Wright,( Forrest Gump , The Princess Bride , Message in a Bottle ) who's been delivered of a boy child and refuses to identify his father. (This part was to have been played by Annette Bening, but she turned up actially pregnant.) Tara's sister Brigid, played by Niamh Cusack, The Beatrix Potter Collection [DVD ], of the well-known Irish theatrical family, is solidly supportive. Adrian Dunbar, The Crying Game , Hear My Song - has a modern Irish movie ever been made without him ?- plays a local farmer who kills himself, possibly over bad luck with his cattle, possibly because of Tara's refusal to marry him. She's also refusing to marry the older man, the local Constable, Brendan Hegarty, who, we come to learn, actually is the child's father. As played by an adamantine Albert Finney,( Tom Jones , Saturday Night and Sunday Morning ), he really is the spine of this slow, low-key, soft-focus film. For although the village priest is calling Tara out from the pulpit, the locals can't be too hard on her: they've known her from her own birth. Into this pregnant situation comes a threadbare traveling troupe of actors, led by Freddie, the marvelously talented Milo O'Shea, Barbarella . Tom Casey, played by the American, handsome blue-eyed Aidan Quinn, Avalon ,is the leading man of their performances. Performances that are always eccentric, and frequently downright hilarious. And Tara, who rather unusually for the time and place, insists on marrying for love, sure loves Tom. Tara is portrayed, possibly also rather unusually for the time and place, as a woman who stubbornly insists on standing on her own, and supporting herself and her child: this she ably does by sewing, and by a spot of comic-relief smuggling across the nearby border of Northern Ireland now and then. There's also a subplot about the activities of the Irish Republican Activities that never amounts to much. Despite the fact that a barn is actually burnt down during its course, "The Playboys"is no barn-burner; but it's a charming, romantic little comedy to curl up with of a chilly evening.

Great delivery..but not my kind of film

I could not watch this film, it was only meant for the USA TV, which wasnt stated when I bought it.

The setting for "The Playboys" is an Irish farming village in 1957. Order is maintained equally by the Catholic Church and the local constabulary represented primarily by a moody officer, Brendan(Albert Finney). A gloom has fallen over the town, however. The locals believe a curse is on the town because unmarried seamstress Tara(Robin Wright), who also makes extra quid running supplies to the IRA, has given birth out of wedlock and it won't be lifted until she names the father. Brendan has made repeated offers of marriage to Tara to make her a decent woman but she will have none of it. Meanwhile a travelling group of actors called the Playboys has come to town. What this troupe lacks in polish it has in versatility. They can do Shakespeare and "Gone with the Wind" as well as a mean Can-Can much to the consternation of the parish priest. Tara becomes smitten with the Playboys affably handsome lead performer, Tom(Aidan Quinn). This draws the ire of Brendan but will Tara sacrifice the greatest happiness she's ever known? I think the novelty of "The Playboys" is it shows the people of Ireland in a different light. Most films set in Ireland draw these folks in broad strokes with more than a touch of blarney. There's a grittiness on display here. The beauty of the script, co-written by Shane Connaughton who helped write "My Left Foot", is that the characters and not the setting take prominence. Tara and Mike are fully fleshed out individuals and their romance is kinetic. Also, Brendan could have been played heavy handed but Finney gives the character complexity making him a tragic figure instead of a villain. "The Playboys" is at turns challenging and entertaining. This is lesser known film waiting for discovery.

Gute Schauspieler , schlechter Film.

I love Aidan Quinn and he is always a pleasure to look at. I am on a mission to collect all his titles.

An incredible movie! Quinn and Wright share a wonderful chemistry onscreen. You will fall under their spell. A must see!

The Playboys is a very good drama about village life and how everyone is up on everyone else's business--the typical smalltown denizens. When you have little, it is very important to make sure that those who don't live according to accepted dogmatic rules are kept in close inspection by those who think they don't have secrets to hide. Robin Wright plays the put-upon unwed mother with strength and truth. Aidan Quinn, the traveling player who is smitten, and Albert Finney, the local cop who insists on being the fierce protector, put in their expected great work. I believe the film is Irish and that makes it quite fine. Foreign work is always of a finer caliber, minding better the ways that people think and react to life's difficulties without chewing on the scenery.