StyleSk8r
At first rather annoying in its heavy emphasis on reenactments, this movie ultimately proves fascinating, simply because the complicated, highly dramatic tale it tells still almost defies belief.
Lachlan Coulson
This is a gorgeous movie made by a gorgeous spirit.
Zandra
The movie turns out to be a little better than the average. Starting from a romantic formula often seen in the cinema, it ends in the most predictable (and somewhat bland) way.
Bill Norson
As is, this movie is loosely a romantic comedy which tries desperately to inject drama into a shallow, unconvincing plot. The story centers around the plight of a woman who has a child out of wedlock in a small Irish village in the 1950s. Instead of exploring the realistic spectrum of human behavior that could arise in such a situation, it relies on stale caricatures. It spends a lot of screen time trying to show how hypocritical all the village folk are as they look down on this poor single mother yet indulge in bad behavior every chance they get. For as we all know from watching many Hollywood movies, in the 1950s the world was ruled by silly hypocritical cavemen who forced their oppressive, outdated morality on the enlightened young'uns.The main characters are not especially likable and when the single mother develops a new love interest, the plot fails to give a convincing reason why the couple would care about each other (beyond lust). That makes it very hard to care what happens.Honestly, some people might think this movie is OK, but very few people will love it. The acting is decent, but the plot is just so uninspired and built around unrealistic clichés that it doesn't connect with the heart.
TxMike
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.
dbdumonteil
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.
emuir-1
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.
