"The Actors'' is a 2003 comedy film directed by Conor McPherson and starring Michael Caine and Dylan Moran as the titular actors.
Whilst starring in a production of Richard III, veteran stage actor Anthony O'Malley (Caine) devises a get rich quick scheme which involves swindling money out of a local gangster. Said gangster, Barreller, (Michael Gambon) owes money to a third party from London, but has never actually met them, therefore all O'Malley needs to do is pretend to be the London gangster's representative and get away with the cash. As he is known to Barreller, O'Malley enlists the aid of struggling co-star Tom Quirke (Moran) to take on the role. But nothing is ever as easy as it seems...
The Actors contains examples of:
- Affably Evil: Magnani may be a ruthless gangster, but is always incredibly polite, and lets O'Malley off with a beating when others would have killed him.
- As Herself: Irish actress Alison Doody portrays herself presenting an award to O'Malley at the end of the film.
- Chekhov's Gag: The film begins with Tom unsucessfully trying out for a sausage advertisement. At the end, Dolores, who has been trying to break into acting, is seen in a Sex Sells version of the final ad.
- Cut Himself Shaving: Zig-zagged at the end. O'Malley is beaten up, ending up in a wheelchair at the end, but Barreller is misinformed and comments how stupid O'Malley must have been to have fallen out of a window.
-
Dawson Casting: As with many real-life examples of this role, the 33 year old Richard III is played by O'Malley, who is at least double that. - In Love with the Mark: Of a sort; whilst posing as Magnani's associate in order to scam Barreller; Tom falls in love with his daughter Dolores.
- Irony:O'Malley rats Tom out to Magnani, and offers her tickets to their production so she can catch up to him. Unfortunately (for O'Malley) Tom is having a bad night and delivers a truly terrible performance, whilst O'Malley is excellent. Magnani therefore believes that O'Malley is the actor who has been troubling them, and gives him a severe beating.
- Karaoke Bonding Scene: Tom (as Clive) and Dolores begin to fall in love whilst duetting on the karaoke machine at Barreller's club.
- Master Actor: Tom proves himself to be adept at playing three other roles throughout the film.
- More Deadly Than the Male: Mary, Dolores and Magnani are all considerably more intelligent and ruthless than their male counterparts.
- No-Holds-Barred Beatdown: O'Malley is given a pretty thorough one by Magnani's men, and attends his award ceremony in a wheelchair.
- Only One Name: Barreller is only referred to as such.
- Ruthless Foreign Gangsters: The ice cold Londoner Magnani compared to the affable small fry Irish gangster Barreller.
- Samus Is a Girl: Magnani.
- Shout-Out: The Nazi-themed Richard III is clearly influenced by the production (and later film adaptation) featuring Ian McKellen.
- Small Name, Big Ego: Barreller acts as though he is a major crime figure to O'Malley, but in reality he is just a small-time chancer. O'Malley himself thinks he is something akin to Olivier, but no one seems to have heard of him.
- Small Role, Big Impact: Clive (Ben Miller) only appears in one brief scene, but he becomes the basis for Tom's main character, kicking off the whole con.
- Staged Shooting: Mary decided that the only way to solve the escalating problem is by killing Clive (Tom's first identity), using a series of bloodpacks and gunshot sound effects. Unfortunately Tom's conversation with Dolores changes his mind, leading O'Malley to forcibly set off the squibs.
- Troubling Unchildlike Behaviour: Tom is more than a little unsettled by Mary's skill for planning a major con.
- Violent Glaswegian: Jock, Magnani's right-hand man.
- Wise Beyond Their Years: Tom's niece Mary is considerably smarter than both of the leads, and they often find themselves coming to her for advice.
- Write Who You Know: In-universe, Tom bases his mob courier character on his sister's boyfriend Clive.
