Ordinary Decent Criminal (2000)

User Rating:

6.3/10   

Director:

Thaddeus O'Sullivan

Writer:

Gerard Stembridge (writer)

Release Date:

7 January 2000 (Ireland)

Genre:

Crime | Comedy

Tagline:

Michael just loves taking the law into his own hands!

Plot:

Michael Lynch is Dublin's most notorious criminal, his brazen robberies making him the bane of the Gardaí...

Plot Keywords:

Caravaggio | Art Theft | Irish | Gangster | Faking Own Death

Cast

Kevin Spacey	...	Michael Lynch
Linda Fiorentino	...	Christine Lynch
Peter Mullan	...	Stevie
Stephen Dillane	...	Noel Quigley
Helen Baxendale	...	Lisa
David Hayman	...	Tony Brady
Patrick Malahide	...	Commissioner Daly
Gerard McSorley	...	Harrison
David Kelly	...	Fr. Grogan
Gary Lydon	...	Tom Rooney
Paul Ronan	...	Billy Lynch
Colin Farrell	...	Alec (as Colin Farrel)
Vincent Regan	...	Shay Kirby
Tim Loane	...	Jerome Higgins
Christoph Waltz	...	Peter

Also Known As:

Ein ganz gewöhnlicher Dieb (Germany)

MPAA:

Rated R for language, some violence and sexuality.

Runtime:

93 min | Germany:85 min (TV version)

Country:

UK | Germany | Ireland | USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby SR

Certification:

Iceland:14 | Iceland:16 (video rating) | South Korea:15 | Argentina:16 | Chile:18 | Finland:K-15 | France:U | Germany:16 | Netherlands:16 | New Zealand:R13 | Spain:7 | UK:15 | USA:R | Australia:MA

Filming Locations:

Dublin, County Dublin, Ireland

Company:

Bórd Scannán na hÉireann

Trivia:

Originally this film was intended to be a film about Martin Cahill (aka The General) a Dublin crime lord. However when the makers discovered that John Boorman was making a film about him already, they changed the storyline. The original intent of the film can still be seen in certain sequences. When he tortures a member of his gang in the belief that he had stolen from him (there is a similar though more accurate scene in The General (1998)) and when visiting the gallery to steal the paintings (The General stole several painting that comprised part of the Beit collection in Russborough house) and also the fact that his 'wives' were sisters

Goofs:

Continuity: At the same time Lynch arrives at the dole office, a gray Austin Metro parks with the rear right wheel on the white line. When Tony gets out, the same car is parked well across the same white line. Finally when Lynch and his band of men come back to rob the office, the same car is properly parked between the white lines.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Veronica Guerin (2003)

Soundtrack:

O Saluratis Hostia

Ordinary Decent Film

Based on the real-life figure of Dublin gangster Martin Cahill (his story was also told in THE GENERAL, released in 1998), this fast-moving crime flick has little new to offer, but is worth a look for fans of the genre. Writer Gerard Stembridge takes the main facts of Cahill's life and gives them a slight spin (most especially the latter stages) to create an interesting mix of fantasy and reality. It's not as good as THE GENERAL; Spacey and Fiorentino struggle with their accents; and the finale is a bit much for us to swallow. But, for all its flaws, it's a lively and amusing piece, if destined forever to fall in the shadow of its more illustrious fore-runner.