The Actors

Down on his luck actor Tom (Moran) is having a really bad time. His house has just burnt down, he has a bit part in an unsuccessful play and he has absolutely no money. This might be about to change, when his mentor Tony O'Malley (Caine) comes up with a scheme that could make them rich. All it needs is Tom to pull off the performance of his life to con a local gangster (Gambon) out of a small fortune.

The gangster flick gets a comic twist and we even get to Sir Michael Caine in drag. The only problem is that someone forgot to add the big belly laughs.

While The Actors is pleasantly amusing, it isn't laugh out loud funny. There is no denying that Dylan Moran is a tremendously talented comic actor, Michael Caine is good in whatever he appears, as is Michael Gambon and Lena Headey is an underused talent but the script lets them down. This excellent ensemble deserves a lot better than what can only be described as a lacklustre farce.The movie just plods along, never really going anywhere and never straying from its predictable path.

There are good points. Child actress Abigail Iverson is very good as Moran's niece Mary. She holds her own with Sir Michael, in a good scene were she comes up with a plan. Dylan Moran's could be Ireland's answer to Mike Myers, playing a number of different characters all with differing accents. Also Tony O'Malley's dream of playing Hamlet is the comic highlight and it is a shame that they showed it in the trailer.

The Actors is a nice comedy that only ever really teeters above the average mark. After you've watched it you can't help thinking that this could have been so much more, especially with this ensemble cast. Writer/Director Conor McPherson, who wrote the screenplay from a story by Neil Jordan (who is not renowned for writing comedy) has missed a good opportunity to produce a great new Irish comedy and he has only his self to blame. Still it is worth seeing for Michael Caine as a Nazi Richard III, in the worst adaptation of the Bard's play every committed to the stage.

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2003