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:

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:

Audio/visual unsynchronized: The post-prod dubbing/synching of Linda Fiorentino's voice is obvious and badly orchestrated. Her voice is soft and closely mic'd and there appears to be no atmospheric interference, dulling or mixing.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Veronica Guerin (2003)

Soundtrack:

I Want You

Has Hollywood infested the Irish filmakers?

Ordinary Decent Criminal has just been released on video out here in the States and I was saddend to see that Hollywood's influence has sucked the orginality out of Irish filmakers. I was ready to sit down and watch one of my favorite actor's, Kevin Spacey, in this movie, when 10 mins into the film I realized I was watching a bloody remake of "The General", which starred Jon Voight and Breandon Gleeason. At first it was hard to swallow the Irish accents, but I got used to it. I stayed with the movie noticing differnt changes from the other great movie,The General, but I was pleasantly surpised that the movie turned out to be really good. Of course I felt that Linda Fiorentino was totally wasted in the part of Spacey's wife, and poor Collin Farrell, if he was in the movie more than 5 mintues that would be something. Overall I'd say the film was watchable. Spacey is good and there are soild peformaces from the rest of the irish cast. If you haven't seen "The General" I suggest you see that film, then watch this fim just to enjoy Spacey doing what he does best, ACTING.