Starring:
Kevin Spacey as Michael Lynch
Linda Fiorentino as Christine Lynch
Peter Mullan as Stevie
Stephen Dillane as Noel Quigley
Helen Baxendale as Lisa
David Hayman as Tony Brady
Patrick Malahide as Commissioner Daly
Gerard McSorley as Harrison
David Kelly as Fr. Grogan
Gary Lydon as Tom Rooney
Paul Ronan as Billy Lynch
Colin Farrell as Alec
Special Features:
None
Other Info:
Widescreen (1.85:1) – Enhanced for 16×9 Televisions
Running Time: 78 Mins.
Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Sound
Synopsis:
This film was originally released in 1999.
Michael Lynch is a crime boss living in Dublin, Ireland. When he’s not being a family man with his children and two wives (yes, two, and they’re sisters), he’s out conducting brazen heists and stealing extremely valuable items. By consistently outsmarting the police, he’s wildly successful at his illegal enterprises. He also relishes the media attention that his crimes generate.
Michael’s new target is a rare painting at a local museum. Worth $30 million, he plots to steal it. However, the police have stepped up their efforts to catch him. The IRA is also moving in on his operations. Up till now Michael has kept everything bloodless, but it’s only a matter of time until somebody gets hurt.
“Ordinary Decent Criminal” is rated R for language, some violence and sexuality.
The Movie:
This film had a bit of potential, but in the end is a bit of a mess. Kevin Spacey as Michael Lynch is the hero of the story. We are supposed to believe he’s a folk hero, but I never understood why. He didn’t give away the money he stole. He never really interacted with the public. When he did steal stuff, he generally terrorized the public by shoving guns in their faces and robbing their banks. This is the guy we’re supposed to root for? The only thing he has going for him is that he can outwit the police, and that doesn’t seem to be much of a challenge. The police are generally portrayed as bumbling morons.
Kevin Spacey is very good as Michael Lynch. He’s the only thing that keeps the film interesting. It’s weird to hear him speak with an Irish accent, but he pulls it off well enough. Colin Farrell is highly publicized on the cover of the DVD, but this is one of his earlier roles. He’s nothing more than a background character and he has few speaking lines. If you want to see this film for him, you may be disappointed. Ironically, while Spacey does a bogus Irish accent, Farrell is seen acting with his natural Irish accent. It’s quite a change considering most of his recent roles involve him doing American accents.
The film has a couple of good heist scenes, but nothing remarkable. It is often confusing, especially if you’re not familiar with Irish politics or their justice system. (Police are referred to as “guards”, etc.) The accents can be a bit hard to follow at times, too. I was particularly confused at the end as we saw double-cross after double-cross. Hopefully you can follow it better than I can.
For some reason the music nearly blew out the bass in my system. I don’t know if they cranked it up to 11 or what, but the music was significantly louder than the dialogue. The driving bass beat would rattle your internal organs when it would come on.
The Extras:
There are no extras on this DVD.
The Bottom Line:
I would only recommend this one to Kevin Spacey fans. Otherwise, there’s not a lot here to offer.
