Os Saqueadores

Far from being historically naive, Plunkett and Macleane is a very cheeky comedy which uses modern touches to bring humour and vibrance to the story. In one hilarious scene modern music is used to turn a ball into a kind of rave. This picture probably conveys more of the spirit of England at that time than any of the tightly corseted period dramas that we see on our small screens. In those days London would no doubt have been (not much different than today) a hive of grime, guts, violence and sex. The best thing to do is to sit back and enjoy the energy,comedy and damn fine performances in this great little britflick. It's not exactly accurate but then this is not what was intended. Give it a go!

I had to watch this twice before I could make up my mind about it. The first viewing - 21st century dialog and disco music laid over reasonably authentic looking old world visuals - comes as such a surprise, it forces you to abandon everything that you were expecting. Once you have gotten into the open frame of mind that the movie asks for, it's a riot: action by the bucketload and alternately funny and oddly moving as Plunkett and Macleane's partnership changes from a wary 'marriage of convenience' to true friendship. The acting is excellent all round, and Liv Tyler's luscious Rebecca is fun and interesting in herself. One of my very few disappointments was that the last ten or fifteen minutes seemed to be rushed, giving me a slight feeling of, "Huh? Is it finished?" when the titles rolled. Overall, excellent. Probably gives a more filthy, revolting and accurate impression of the 18th century than any official period drama. 8/10

I didn't think I'd like Plunkett and Macleane that much, but I must say, I was pleasantly suprised with this flick. It had it all adventure, action, thrills, chills and drama. And especially the clever moments of stand-out hilarity which you will be laughing about hours after the flick. Plunkett and Macleane also has some very polished performances, especially from he-who-can-do-no-wrong man Robert Carlyle, Johnny Lee Miller and the stunningly beautiful Liv Tyler.

I guarantee you'll enjoy this movie, it is clever, funny and extremely entertaining.

Rating: 8

Ah, how refreshing to see a vision of 18th century England complete with mud, the pox and gibbets... and accompanied by a delightful techno soundtrack to boot. This is the story of downtrodden highwayman Plunkett (Robert Carlisle) and Gentleman-fallen-on-hard-times Captain Macleane (Jonny Lee Miller), and how they get together and rob the aristo pigs. Plunkett is a hard nut, but MaCleane is far too polite for that, and thus becomes 'the gentleman highwayman'. He falls in love with Lady Rebecca (Liv Tyler), (who to be frank is the only weak part of the whole shebang) and wants to impress her.

The costumes are fantastic. Big, colourful, historically innacurate beautiful togs. Alan Cummings gets all the best threads, and the best lines as Lord Rochester, sporting a very non-18th century eyebrow piercing. The music shifts between swooping glorious choirs and thumping bass-laden techno, which doesn't jarr as you think it should do in a historical film. The script is fast-moving and peppered with modern-day colloquialisms; Merchant Ivory, this is not. There are hilarious parts, disgusting parts, sit-on-the-edge-of-your-seat-and-nibble-your-fingernails parts, but the whole thing chugs along and is wonderfully entertaining throughout. This is cheer-in-the-cinema stuff. Unmissable.

I can tell from reading the other comments that I am in the small minority of people who loved this film. I rented it several times to share with friends and family, and since they are all into renfaires and the like, they seemed to enjoy it. Maybe not as much as I did, but not everyone is me. I found it to be a fun romp into a world that we so often see the high society end of (Dangerous Liasons, etc..), but not too often from the poor man's point of view. Robert Carlyle and Johnny Lee Miller are two of my favorite actors, both since Trainspotting, and I think they will be for some time to come. If you like English humor, then I think you will enjoy this film.