The Actors is a contemporary comedy set in Dublin. It follows the exploits of two mediocre stage actors as they devise a plan to con a retired gangster out of £50,000. The gangster owes the money to a third party, whom he has never met.
The actors take advantage of this fact by impersonating this 'unidentified' third party, and claiming the debt as their own. To pull it off they enlist Moran's eerily intelligent nine-year-old niece, who restructures the plan each time something goes wrong.
The two protagonists are acting in a version of Shakespeare's Richard III in which everyone dresses in Nazi uniform, a sly nod to Ian McKellen's production.
The film is centred on the Olympia Theatre, and it is noteworthy for featuring the famous glass awning over the entrance which has since been destroyed in a traffic accident. The glass awning has since been rebuilt to its full former glory.
Empire gives the film 2/5, describing it as "Based on an idea by Neil Jordan, The Actors had the potential to be gut-achingly funny. But instead it ends up raising a few paltry smiles."[2]
