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The Playboys (1992)
Released By: HBO Video   Rating: PG-13   In Theaters: N/A
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Studio: HBO Video
Genre: Drama
MPAA Rating: PG-13
Director: Gillies Mackinnon
Language: English
Official Website: N/A
Theatrical Release: N/A
Home Video Release: N/A
Cast: Aidan Quinn, Albert Finney, Milo O'Shea, Robin Wright Penn
Published ID: 3526
UPC: 027616903785,
Plot: Gillies MacKinnon directed this charming Irish romance, taking place in a small Irish village in 1957, just before the first television set makes an appearance in this conservative hamlet. There is a scandal in the village concerning the beautiful and independent Tara Maguire (Robin Wright) -- Tara is pregnant and refuses to identify the father. She goes into labor during Sunday Mass, which raises the ire of the parish priest (Alan Devlin), who thinks God will bring bad times down on the village for Tara's effrontery. The priest feels Tara should marry the local town constable, Sgt. Hagerty (Albert Finney), a dyspeptic reformed alcoholic who is in love with Tara. But she doesn't love Hagerty. This becomes particularly clear when a traveling band of actors known as the Playboys come into town. One of the players in the troupe, Tom Casey (Aidan Quinn), is caught by Tara stealing one of her chickens. But it is love at first sight, although it takes a while for their attraction to take root beyond some electric glances. Hagerty sees where the relationship is going and he is determined to undermine the burgeoning affair. Tara is wary and doesn't want to be dependent upon any man, even to the point of smuggling supplies to the Irish Republican Army. When Hagerty hears someone in the village is colluding with the IRA, he suspects Tom and throws him in jail. But Hagerty is a walking time bomb and finally his rage erupts with violent force. ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide
IDDateTimeTitleReviewHelpfulVotesTotalVotes
Magical story
Added 8/21/2009

A beautiful story, acted similarly. It has a great ring of truth--growing up in the west of Ireland,I well remember the traveling performers who set up their tent on Monday and gave us Shakespeare one night, a murder-mystery the next, followed by a musical, a comedy--all starring the same nine or ten actors. Then on the weekend, gone overnight. Magical. In the movie, Milo O'Shea is a standout as the head of the troupe, the impressario, and Robin Wright-Penn has the Irish accent down pat, as does the besotted (and unrequited) Albert Finney At the wise insistence of the author of the book on which the film was based, the movie was shot right on the town green of a little town in Cavan. This is a little gem.
0 out of 0 people found this helpful.
like The Snapper
Added 2/9/2009

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.

0 out of 0 people found this helpful.
well-acted, sweet
Added 12/21/2008

It's the 1950s in rural Ireland and lovely, unmarried Tara gives birth to a son. Who's the father? She won't say. But the local police sergeant played by Albert Finney is crazy about her, and more than a little crazy in general. He wants to marry her, but she refuses.
Enter a group of traveling players led by Milo O'Shea and featuring the comley Aidan Quinn and we have all the ingredients of a classic drama. Add in some smuggling, IRA bombs, a bombastic Catholic priest and the brew starts bubbling nicely.
This movie was well-acted and well-written -- the plot has a lot going on; the scenery is lovely; the accents are Irish and Robin Wright is very beautiful. I have just two criticisms: I found the music intrusive and too much like a pastiche of what people think Irish tunes should be. A little more serious, just when you think everything is building to a grand climax, it all kind of peters out to a conventional happy ending. But this is a grand little film to be sure, to be sure.

1 out of 1 people found this helpful.
Men Suck, as Usual.
Added 8/28/2008

The Sheriff Rapes a Younge Girl, who goes on to have a baby and will not name the father of the child. She is ostrasized by the town. When she meets a new man, an actor the sheriff is jelous and interfers in her life and threatens it and the actors life. The sheriff ends up dead.
0 out of 1 people found this helpful.
Worth the time spent watching
Added 1/14/2008

Although this is not a "Great" film, it is a good representation of a time period and life in that time. It shows the drama of life and how people adjust to make that drama tolerable. You have to watch it more than once to see the silliness of the characters, but it is worth the time. Irish cinema is wonderful.
0 out of 0 people found this helpful.
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