16 of 16 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Irish love story....., May 21, 2001
This review is from: PLAYBOYS (DVD)
THE PLAYBOYS stars Albert Finney, Aiden Quinn and Robin Wright. I saw the film in the theatre several years ago and have been waiting to buy the DVD. I don't remember the characters names, but the gist of the story is this: Robin Wright plays a young woman living in a small village in Ireland. She is the mother of an adorable out-of-wedlock baby. She will not divulge the identity of the baby's father. Albert Finney plays the village constable. He wants to marry Wright, but she refuses to marry him or to identify her child's father. Many folks in the village feel Wright ought to marry the good cop.
One day, a very small traveling carnival arrives in the village. The carnival is so small all the members of the troupe perform multiple tasks. One of the troupe is played by Aiden Quinn. Quinn has a nifty motorcycle which he spins round and round the village green to impress Wright. Finney disapproves of Quinn's interest in Wright. When the carnival leaves the village, Quinn asks Wright to ride aways with him on his motorbike. Will she, should she? You'll have to watch the film to find out whether she chooses the good cop or the dashing young man, and you will discover the identity of the baby's father by the end of the film.
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11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
An Irish "Cannary Row", January 27, 2000
Give this one a second chance. First time through, I thought plot was thin and weak. Second time through I picked up on the nuances of personal relationships in a rural Irish village, as intertwined as a Celtic knot. Good acting all around - even the stoic children do their part. When traveling players come to town, secrets are revealed and personalities clash, but in the repressed undercurrents common where small groups must live together. A global story with an Irish accent, told in the days before television homogenized the world.
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7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
One of 1992's best films, February 25, 2007
I know 1992 was a long time ago so I'll remind you of the film's nominated for the best picture Oscar that year: "Unforgiven", Clint Eastwood's cowboy movie with a modern edge that won the award, and competitors "The Crying Game", "A Few Good Men", "Howards End" and "Scent of a Woman". This film, "The Playboys", is better than all those films, in my opinion.
A story about secrets, love, fidelity, irony and small town life, "The Playboys" features a stunning performance by Alber Finney and likely the best film work of Aidan Quinn's career as they compete for unwed-but-pregnant Robin Wright, a young woman in a small Irish town that won't disclose the father of her child circa 1957.
While the film is not completely convincing in its representation of the 1950s (who knows what rural Ireland was like then?) it nonetheless remains an involving drama about people, circumstances, personal honor and what is important in life. Shane Connaughton's script plays the competition between the two men -- the standup cop Finney, representing good and irony, against actor-playboy Quinn, representing free spirits --against the overall conservatism and situational condemnation of village residents. The result is good fun and enticing cinema verite.
Filmed in Ireland, "The Playboys" is a wonderful movie that avoids nonsense and sentimentality, ends realistically, and asks the viewer what happenend when it's all over. It is a story on a lesser scale than some of the year's Oscar contenders; yet it stands up to all of them in terms of intelligence, viewer involvement, acting, onsite filming and the fulfilling the vision of its screenwriter. It's a film and story you won't soon forget.
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