The Actors (2003)

So much average

Simply Perfect

Best movie ever!

Through painfully honest and emotional moments, the movie becomes irresistibly relatable

A ham actor without a penny. Who better than Michael Caine to play such a character? He is totally and utterly hilarious but, as in most of Caine's performances, he goes for it for real. The film seems to be a showcase of Dylan Moran and he's splendiferous in his double act with Caine. This, however, is where the script falters. Moran's impersonations should have been incorporated in a rather more organic way. They are too much of an act on their own and makes the potential plausibility of the plot fly out of the window. Never mind. Get it if you can find it. There is enough in it to make it a pleasurable journey.

First off- What are some of you thinking? This is the best movie I've seen in ages! Secondly- I don't think of it as a British movie as it is set in Dublin and has mainly Irish actors- Moran, Gambon, Aisling O Sullivan(Rita), Deirdre O'Kane etc.Thirdly- I thought that Moran was excellent. He was hilariously funny through out. Micheal Caine seemed only to be there to get Moran context. Each character he took on he perfected. Abigail Iversen I thought was better than any other child actor I have seen. She was believable as the smart kid and also as a kid and an adult(yes I know that sounds strange but hey...). Even she managed to upstage Caine. Iversen and Moran worked very well together and were very funny in the preparation scene.Barreler(Gambon) was very funny in his ineptitude.

We saw this in a bargain basket at the local Asda: £1.50 for the DVD. reading all the hype plastered all over the cover saying how "hillarious" it is, and it also had a really good, established cast, we thought this must a great film.So we bought, took it home, shoved it in the DVD player, sat back and waited for the funnies to begin.......and waited.......and waited.....and waited a bit more.Some 90 minutes later, although it felt more like 3 hours, the credits rolled, and that was the end of that.What a letdown - even paying £1.50 seemed a con. God knows what Caine, Richardson and Gambon were thinking when they said 'yes' to this tosh. And as for Moran: well much as I enjoyed Black Books, Shaun of the dead, and his comedy tours, I felt he was out of his depth in this film. He tried too hard playing for laughs, probably thinking that if retaining the characteristics from his Black Books character, would work here.Sadly it back-fired. The gags fell flat after awhile, and then he became just an irritation. Which is a shame because I believe given the right part he could be a very good film/character actor.Anyway, to sum up: the actors in The Actors, failed to Act!!! **/*****

Right, for a start, I liked it. It was funny, It was farcical; Michael Caine and Dylan Moran threw themselves into their roles with such obvious glee, that I found it impossible not to be swayed by this film despite its many obvious flaws. The musical score just didn't seem appropriate; a number of the scenes appeared irrelevant and a little clunky; it just is not perfectly crafted and does appear cobbled together at times. But, and its a big but, its just funny. It just is - Michael Caine is wonderful as the neverhasbeen, entirely self absorbed O'Malley. While Moran handles his (definately more challenging) role with an almost nonchalent ease - a superb actor and one to watch in the future me thinks. In summary, and despite its flaws, if you don't laugh at this nice little film then your a bigger cynic than me - and you have my pity!