Imdb Ranking 6.3
It's 1957 in a small village and Tara Maguire has a baby, Jimmy, out of wedlock and refuses to name the father. She is the talk of the town. Two local would like to marry her: Sgt. Brendan Hagerty (Albert Finney), the town constable and Mick a local landowner; bit she doesn't want either. Tara raises
When Mick loses his cattle he kills himself and there are some in town who blame tara for not having him. From the altar the parish priest Father Malone says: "Scandal is a contagion. And one sinner can infect an entire community. Tara Maguire name the man who wronger you or the whoremaster will bring down yet more corruption and disaster on the heads of us all!" Tara takes her baby and walks out of church.
"The Playboys", a theatrical troop arrives in town. Sgt. Hagerty continues his courting of Tara and Father Malone is pushing him on her, but she wants no part of him. He carves a cradle for the baby but she refuses the gift.
Tara smuggles goods across the close border to North Ireland, but it is the bicycled Sgt. Hagerty's job to stop her. Tara catches Tom Casey (Aidan Quinn), one of the Playboys, stealing one of her chickens, and makes him pay for it.
The Playboys put on a comic play about Redcoats and rebels. Tom flirts with Tara but is disappointed that she has a baby. But later on he starts flirting with her and she flirts back. At the next showing Father Malone stops the show because the girls are showing their legs, so the Players switch to Othello.
Sgt. Hagerty tells Tom that Tara is spoken for and the baby is his. We then find out that Sgt. Hagerty was the father. Tara tries to explain what happened to Tom. Sgt. Hagerty had kept the secret until now.
When Sgt. Hagerty finds out Tom and Tara are in a barn, he burns it down, but they are gone. Later during a show a blind woman can see again. Sgt. Hagerty lies to Tara and tells her Tom is married. Hagerty then arrest Tom for having explosives that he has dicovered. the explosives have been brought in by another member of the players who is an IRA man.
Hagerty comes to senses and lets Tom go but he is still really angry. After seeing Gone with the Wind, at the movies, the troop decides to put on an improvised show. Hagerty goes and gets the baby during the show.
Tom and Hagerty end up in a fist fight and Tom beats him pretty good. The drunk Hagerty breaks up the tent. The next day Hagerty packs his suitcases and leaves town. Tara and the baby leave with Tom and the troop.
A decent movie that was part comedic, part romantic, part dramatic and part mystery. But it really didn't do any of those things really well. Albert Finney , as always, was great to watch.
