Free Films: The Actors

11th Apr 2003

PRC FREE FILMS 
"The Actors"

After the huge interest in our last movie screening PeoplesRepublicOfCork.com and Eclipse Pictures give you the chance to see another movie before it is released sometime in May. The screening will take place at 7pm next Thursday 17th April at The Gate Cinema. All you have to do to win tickets is to email us with the answer to the following question:

Who is this proud and highly influential Corkman ?



A. Neil Prendeville
B. Osama Bin Murphy
C. Sadam Hussein

To get two free tickets to this show just email: freefilms@peoplesrepublicofcork.com now with the answer (A, B or C), your full name and a contact number. Only enter if you can go.
Tickets will be distributed on a first come first serve basis. Keep a lamp out for a "few surprises" on the night! This event is exclusive to PeoplesRepublicOfCork.com. Have a mad howl.

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In THE ACTORS two struggling, rather eccentric actors Tom (Dylan Moran) and O'Malley (Michael Caine) prove the little known adage that bad actors make great crooks. For his research into the character of Richard III, O'Malley starts hanging out with the local criminals in the roughest pub in town and gets embroiled in a hilarious plot to steal a large sum of cash with the help of Tom and Tom's weirdly clever 9 year old niece, Mary.

WOSS IT ABOUT ?
Anthony O'Malley (Michael Caine) is a vain and ageing classically trained actor who laments the fading of his 'glorious past', when he made a decent living from voiceovers and American TV. O'Malley plays a self styled mentor to Tom (Dylan Moran), a young and aspiring thespian whose career is going nowhere more exciting than failing a humiliating audition for a bad sausage ad.

Stuck in a rut and earning a pittance in an hilariously misconceived Dublin production of Shakespeare's Richard III, the pair are rooted in the grim realities of a business based on illusions, and are at an all time low. "To be or not to be," says O'Malley. "It's not just Hamlet's dilemma. It's the actors dilemma." Having no confidence in his ability, Tom is of the 'not to be' philosophy.

One night, O'Malley reveals to Tom that he has been frequenting one of Dublin's more notorious pubs, supposedly seeking inspiration for his performance as the evil Richard III. Here he has met Barreller (Michael Gambon), a gormless and fairly harmless, softcore criminal. O'Malley has learned of a debt owed by Barreller to a London gangster, the mysterious Magnani, whom Barreller has never met.

Spotting what he considers to be a foolproof swindle, O'Malley proposes that Tom masquerade as one of Magani's hoods and intercept the money owed by Barreller. "Acting is not real… Because nothing is at stake. We're just pretending that it is," declares O'Malley, proposing that this will serve as invaluable (and much needed) acting training for Tom. Tom is appalled at the idea until a freak accident reduces his house to a pile of ash, leaving him with little choice but to rise to the challenge.

This is the point at which things start to go wrong. What should have been a simple one stop trip to easy cash turns into a spiral of cover ups which see Tom, with the help of his niece Mary (Abigail Iversen), having to adopt more and more characters to prevent his cover being blown. However, the more characters Tom creates, the more his confidence grows and it soon becomes apparent that despite being an appalling stage actor, in real life he can hold his own rather well. "Acting is a craft… You have to live it," he explains to O'Malley, who suddenly realises that he has unwittingly unleashed Tom's hidden talents.

The situation is further complicated when Tom falls for Barreller's beautiful daughter, Dolores (Lena Headey) who starts to see through their dwindling plan. And if that wasn't enough, the ruthless gangster Magnani (Miranda Richardson) makes the trip from London to Ireland in an attempt to establish the whereabouts of her missing cash.

Appearances belie reality and as the madness gains momentum, hilarity ensues in this classic comic farce of mistaken identities.