The Playboys
Picture: B- Sound: B- Extras: C Film: B-
The various advantages of
new formats like DVD are the art of discovering titles that were unheard of
before, or basically unavailable, until now.
Certainly one of the more obscure titles of late would be the forgotten
1992 film The Playboy’s starring
Albert Finney, Aidan Quinn, and Robin Wright (not yet Penn). Now, it is being released through MGM DVD
with some hope for discovery.
Albert Finney followed up
with this film after his awesome performance in the Coen Brothers Miller’s Crossing (1990), which was
certainly one of the best Gangster movies in ages and a highlight in their
career. His performance in that film is
memorable and likewise Robin Wright had just finished State of Grace (also 1990) and yet another terrific modern Gangster
film that is a must see! Check out the
great review for both those films on this site!
As for Aidan Quinn he is virtually an unknown actor despite his many
performances either in the lead or as a side character. Up until this point he had done The Mission (1986), Avalon (1990), and At Play in the Fields of the Lord (1991) and a handful of other
titles. The combination of these three
fine actors makes this movie really work well.
Tara (Wright) lives in a
small Irish village, but she refuses to reveal the identity of her baby’s
father. Because of this the entire
village practically disowns her. They
feel that she has disrespected them with her secrecy and her beauty is a
threat, at least in some way. Constable
Hegarty (Finney) is adamant about marrying her and accept his offers, but she
becomes involved with a promising actor (Quinn). Because of this Hegarty’s jealousy is fueled
to the point where he might expose her secrets and take away her happiness,
which is the only thing she has left.
I give this film kudos for
having flawed characters and even though the romantic storyline has some
predictability, its execution feels authentic enough because of the fine
performances. Not only that, but the
storyline allows for some space in there to be more realistic and nothing
really happens exactly as planned. The
ending becomes slightly too charming for its own good, but its appeal with
certainly land in the laps of a predominately female audience.
MGM has issued the film to
DVD with a 1.85 X 1 original aspect ratio, which looks ok, but nothing
stellar. The camerawork by Jack Conroy
comes across well. His previous work on My Left Foot (1989) is similar to what
he does here with rich colors, lush scenery, and intimate closeness. Colors look good with a nice balance and
contrast seems accurate. This is not
quite as defined as it could look, but that would take a higher bit rate
transfer to gain a sharper picture. The
sound mix is a Stereo Surround option that is never full or expansive. Music and dialogue generally come through the
front left and right speakers with decent fidelity, but nothing overly
impressive. It’s hard to judge if a 5.1
would have even been beneficial since there is little surround activity or
anything that might necessitate in so.
Just the original
theatrical trailer for this film is included as an extra, but with the low
profile nature of this film it is doubtful than digging up any extras would
have made it worthwhile. Fans of the
film or those curious about it will at least get an average issue of it for
home viewing and given the demographics for a film of this nature, it is
unlikely that they will be that concerned with its technical specs anyway.
- Nate Goss
