Film
What's on at the cinema plus reviews of the latest movie and DVD releases
Bookmark this pageOrdinary Decent Criminal (1999)
Director: Thaddeus O'Sullivan
Movie review
From Time Out Film Guide
With Irish gangster Martin Cahill's life and crimes already filmed twice (as John Boorman's The General and David Blair's superior TV movie Vicious Circle), this third version of the same events is belated and superfluous. Pitched between cartoonish caper and knockabout farce, it also suffers from an uneven tone compounded by Damon Albarn's relentlessly jaunty soundtrack. Renamed Michael Lynch (Spacey, ludicrously miscast), the Cahill character goes through the motions as before, dividing his affections between his wife and her sister, robbing banks and relishing his status as public irritant No. 1. But his decision to taunt the police with the theft of an unsellable Caravaggio painting is an act of hubris that undermines his Robin Hood persona, alienates his loyal gang members and stresses him out. Occasional topical allusions aside, this could be taking place anywhere, especially as the stripping away of the social and political context extends to playing fast and loose with the facts. Fiorentino flounders in the thinly written role of Lynch's wife, leaving the supporting players such as Baxendale (as her sister) and Mullan (as his increasingly disenchanted henchman) to anchor the centrifugal action.Author: NF
Cast & crew
Director: Thaddeus O'Sullivan
Producer: Jonathan Cavendish
Cast: Kevin Spacey, Linda Fiorentino, Peter Mullan, Stephen Dillane, Helen Baxendale, David Hayman, Patrick Malahide, Gerard McSorley, David Kelly, Gary Lydon full cast
Duration: 94 mins
Top Stories
Ridley Scott interview
Director Ridley Scott tells Cath Clarke why he's making a science fiction comeback
Cannes Film Festival 2012: half-time report
Dave Calhoun reports on the hits, misses and a shocking new masterpiece from Michael Haneke
What do you think?
Post your review now