Ordinary Decent Criminal (2000)

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:

The story that Father Grogan tells Michael and Christine about finding Caravaggio's "The Taking of Christ" is true. The painting was found by accident when it was sent for cleaning. It can now be see in the National Gallery of Ireland as stated.

Goofs:

Anachronisms: This movie was set around 1991-3. However, visible in a number of places are both Fiat Punto cars and CitySwift buses. These were not introduced until 1994 and 1995 respectively. In the bank raid scene, the notes which are stolen are Series III Irish banknotes. These notes were not fully introduced until 1996, and the £20 notes shown in the raid were not even partially introduced at the time the movie was set

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Veronica Guerin (2003)

Soundtrack:

Carolan's Draught

Ordinary Decent Show

The film itself is a bit of a laugh. The part where Stevie laments over his poverty stricken child hood is hilarious. Fair enough the foreign actors such as Spacey's and Baxendale's accent are useless but sure at the end of the day its no big deal. The Gardai Siochanna are also a wild laugh with them following Spacey about through Dublin giving him plenty of stick. This film can't be taken seriously and was never intended to be. If you wanted the true story about Michael Cahill, go and watch 'the General' if you want to see a crowd of cowboys rampaging through Dublin making a mockery of the Gardai Siochanna then watch this film. All in all a good laugh but not one for 'serious viewers'.