Plunkett & Macleane (1999)

Two robbers are persecuted by the law, whose servants are not much better and even worse.

Director:

Jake Scott

Writers:

Selwyn Roberts (earlier screenplay), Robert Wade (screenplay)

Stars:

Robert Carlyle, Jonny Lee Miller, Iain Robertson

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Jonny Lee Miller	...	Macleane
Iain Robertson	...	Highwayman Rob
Robert Carlyle	...	Plunkett
Ken Stott	...	Chance
Tommy Flanagan	...	Eddie
Stephen Walters	...	Dennis
James Thornton	...	Catchpole
Terence Rigby	...	Harrison
Christian Camargo	...	Lord Pelham
Karel Polisenský	...	Newgate Priest
Neve McIntosh	...	Liz
Matt Lucas	...	Sir Oswald
David Walliams	...	Viscount Bilston
David Foxxe	...	Lord Ketch
Jake Gavin	...	Newgate Gent

Storyline

Will Plunkett and Captain James Macleane, two men from different ends of the social spectrum in 18th-century England, enter a gentlemen's agreement: They decide to rid the aristocrats of their belongings. With Plunkett's criminal know-how and Macleane's social connections, they team up to be soon known as "The Gentlemen Highwaymen". But when one day these gentlemen hold up Lord Chief Justice Gibson's coach, Macleane instantly falls in love with his beautiful and cunning niece, Lady Rebecca Gibson. Unfortunately, Thief Taker General Chance, who also is quite fond of Rebecca, is getting closer and closer to getting both: The Gentlemen Highwaymen and Rebecca, who, needless to say, don't want to get any closer to him. But Plunkett still has a thing to sort out with Chance, and his impulsiveness gets all of them in a little trouble.

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Plot Keywords:

18th century | social satire | robber | character names as title | surnames as title | 

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Taglines:

Interrupted hanging

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Genres:

Action | Adventure | Crime | Drama

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for some strong violence, sexuality and language

Details

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Release Date:

2 April 1999 (UK)

Also Known As:

Rob the Rich

Filming Locations:

London, England, UK

Box Office

Opening Weekend:

£760,281 (United Kingdom), 4 April 1999, Limited Release

Opening Weekend USA:

$244,765, 3 October 1999, Limited Release

Gross USA:

$474,900, 31 October 1999

Company Credits

Production Co:

Arts Council of England, PolyGram Filmed Entertainment, Working Title Films

Technical Specs

Runtime:

99 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.39 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The French title for this film is "Guns 1748".

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Goofs

During the sewer scene, when Plunkett look back, a crew member with glasses can be clearly seen on the left of the screen.

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Quotes

[first lines]
Judge Beresteade: Captain James Macleane, for drunkenness, unruly behavior, causing an affray and disturbing the King's, I hereby sentence you to be placed in the Knightsbridge debtors' jail and to be held there until you are sober. Take him away.

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Crazy Credits

The person in charge of overseeing the duel between Chance and Plunkett is listed as the "Dual Referee".

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Connections

References Batman & Robin (1997)

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Soundtracks

Houses in Motion
Written by David Byrne, Brian Eno, Chris Frantz (as Christopher Frantz),
Tina Weymouth (as Martina Weymouth), Jerry Harrison
Performed by Lewis Parker, Helen White, Craig Armstrong, Stephen Hilton

User Reviews

Highly entertaining stuff

When I sat down in the cinema to see this I was expecting to see a sort of stylish tongue-in-cheek action film, which had been implied by the trailers. However, it very quickly became apparent that this film was trying to be more.

Normally, I don't approve of films that try to entertain in as many ways possible. For instance, this film tries to mix action with comedy, romance, lightheartedness and gritty seriousness all at once. Most of the time this sort of approach doesn't work in films (just look at Batman Forever) but I was was pleasantly surprised to see that in this case, they pulled it off.

The end result is a highly entertaining film that should appeal to most mature cinemagoers. (However, the weak of stomach should really be warned of one or two scenes.) Robert Carlyle and Jonny Lee Miller pull of a brilliant double act and Ken Stott does a excellent villain. This mixed in with superb costumes and a few decent action scenes makes for a very enjoyable watch.

However, the big let-down here for me is that in having 'The Gentleman Highwayman' there was a real opportunity for some good dialogue but the script was definitely lacking in punchiness and there were few belly laughs. Okay, so the lines weren't terrible but to me it does highlight a problem with recent British films; ignoring a few notable exceptions the screenplays being written today are still relatively mediocre when compared to some of Hollywood's efforts.