The Playboys

PLAYBOYS - DVD Movie

With delicate charm and dignity, The Playboys finds laughter, love, and scandal in a cozy Irish village in 1957. For her disapproving neighbors, it's bad enough that Tara Maguire (Robin Wright, with a fair Irish accent) won't identify the father of her baby, and she's making matters worse by inviting romance with Tom (Aidan Quinn), a carefree actor in a band of traveling players. Constable Hagerty (Albert Finney) is insanely jealous and possessive; he knows Tara's secret while hiding one of his own, and his roiling emotions lead to a climax with dangerous shades of Othello. Oscar®-nominated screenwriter Shane Connaughton (My Left Foot) maintains the gravity of this situation (including a subplot involving IRA smugglers), but never loses track of his character-based humor, especially in the good-natured clash between free spirits and dowdy conservative locals. Filmed in the idyllic Redhills Village of County Cavan, The Playboys is well-acted (especially by Finney) and refreshingly free of blarney. --Jeff Shannon