Product: Plunkett & Macleane
Rating: 4.0
They robbed the rich...and that's it
Plunkett & Macleane caught me by surprise. The trailer opened with typical period drama pretentiousness before turning into a punkish, rebellious wild ride. When I went to see it at the cinema (during its extremely limited theatrical run) I hadn't even planned on it that day. I just turned up in time and decided to take a chance. A wise choice indeed, as I was in a bad mood that day and this movie really cheered me up.It's London, it's 1748, Robert Carlisle and Johnny Lee Miller play the titular highwaymen from opposite ends of the social spectrum. Will Plunkett brings the highway know-how while Captain James Macleane makes the connections to high society. Lord Gibson takes personal offense to their antics after being robbed, but her Niece Lady Rebecca (the lovely Liv Tyler) falls in love with Macleane, and his unusual gentlemanly ways. Ken Stott plays the truly vile Chance, the police inspector determined to see the men hang at any cost, and one of the nastiest villains in recent film history.Jake Scott (son of Ridley, nephew of Tony) directs with a style that fuses Gothic tones with post-modernism. This is no Pride and Prejudice. Plunkett & Macleane is glam rock on acid while retaining all of the usual gritty, earthy production designs of previous Ridley/Tony films. Amazingly, Jake Scott would not direct another film until 11 years after this got released.There is a strange rumor persistent on the Internet that Plunkett & Macleane (inspired by true story, don't you know) began life as a completely different film. I recall seeing production stills in magazines in 1996 (three years before its release), and there have been suggestions that it was originally called 'The Lady Highwayman' with Liv Tyler as the lead and Carlisle and Miller merely as supporting characters. The original screenplay by Selwyn Roberts apparently featured bizarre mathematical subtext before being heavily re-written by Bond-scribes Neal Purvis and Robert Wade. I'm not sure if any of the original material made it into the final, 99-minute, cut of the film.A score by Trevor Jones was also apparently rejected in favor of Craig Armstrong. While I have no idea what Jones may or may not have recorded for this film, there is no doubt that Armstrong's work is utterly amazing, probably his career best.Plunkett & Macleane seems to have fallen into obscurity since its release. Don't let it pass you by though, it's loads of fun and deserved a wider audience.