The Glory Boys

First of all let's get some things out of the way. I'm amazed that one of the reviewers here praised Anthony Perkins' perfect English accent. I was working on subtitles for this title and Perkins practically gave up on trying an English accent for MOST of the title, except in one or two scenes, such as when he was in the hospital room and was interviewing one of the injured bad guys, he was trying to act all suave and James Bond so he pulled an okay English accent. But really he was rescued by his clever lines, although his delivery was good.

I thought The Glory Boys did a decent job trying to show both sides of the coin, mainly, the bad guys' motives. The Irish IRA guy pulled off a good performance. You could see by his emotions that he was torn by what he was doing, and near the end he's finally given closure in which he says he's tired, tired from running all the time. I know about the events that took place and still taking place with Northern Ireland and Britain, so I know what he fights for, though The Glory Boys doesn't even bother to mention a single detail, other than in the beginning when his girlfriend asks him where he comes from, and "if he blows things up". The Palestinian guy was okay, at first he was a bit unsure since it was his first time going on such a mission, but later he becomes determined. We don't exactly know why, other than when Perkins says they are all fanatics or something. It's not the most PC, The Glory Boys, but the ending was touché.

This is one of those movies that remind you of those TV offerings that are broadcast live, so no editing or retakes can make what you see seem perfect. It has a real start and stop feel to it and takes a long time to build up to its conclusion. Its frustrating watching competent actors, who are given a mediocre script, try to hash it out as best they can. The most successful in this attempt is clearly Anthony Perkins. His performance, despite the material and strange direction, is one of the finest I've seen in a very long time. His British accent is flawless, and the intensity and believability with which he delivers his lines is astounding. Most remarkable is his nervous, conclusive delivery of lines before putting away of one of the bad guys and after when he walks away from the fallen terrorist. I played it over and over. Its acting like none other. I believe that of all the roles in Mr. Perkins' great career, this was his finest performance. Its just too bad that the movie had to be sub-standard. Of mention, is Aaron Harris' wonderful job in portraying an Irish hired hit man. 2 out of 5 stars.

Sorry but he does not ,in fact he is an embarrassment in this throughout and yet another case of 'I wish they hadnt made that American Actor try to do an English accent'...Perkins seems uncomfortable in this from beginning to end,you get the feeling he got the job by fax,flew straight to the UK and was on set before he had even had a chance to check in to his hotel and get a good nights sleep.The Irish Villain is wildly over the top and unbelievable and his girlfriend is ridiculous.I have too much respect for Steiger to say much more that he is given much to do.These terrorism scare - movies made for TV in the 80s really haven't aged well at all .Shame that two fine stars like Perkins and Steiger had stuff like this on their resumes at all really.Funnily enough Steiger played an IRA man himself a little earlier in 'Hennessy' which again,hasn't help up well.