Ordinary Decent Criminal

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SIMAS C @simas_eros Oct 27, 2026 A light and entertaining film about a promising thief, with the curious detail that he maintains an open and healthy relationship with two sisters. See more

Ted B @Movieaddicted Mar 13, 2023 3.5 stars; Yeah. This movie had a number of flaws, but I'm a big sucker for heist movies. Especially those that have those story twist endings. I guess most people say that one flaw was the crummy attempt at Irish accents by Kevin Spacey and Linda Fiorentino. For the movie connoisseur, I'm sure that is true. But since I had to watch it on a DVD that had no subtitle option, they were two of the actors that I had the easiest time following their dialogue. Some of the Irish actors had heavier accents. So for me, that was not a flaw but a plus. I thought the movie was fun. As I said, I loved the movies' ending twist. I also loved the "Soprano" flavor of the mob boss' (Spacey) family life.(two wives), and the daily games played to avoid the Cops tailing him. See more

jordan m @starballer Apr 29, 2022 This played very similar to Heist for me, the crime caper by Mamet where they do a good job of showing how clever the main character is but then sort of sail past that point to where I never felt like he was ever in any real danger of being caught. That type of movie is mostly only fine when they get really creative with the heist aspects, which they only do in the leadup to the finale... they eventually just sort of yank the paintings off the walls and then clumsily shoot their way out. The accents were also all over the place, with everyone having a different interpretation of what Irish people sound like, resulting in even the authentic accents sounding fake. I've never seen Spacey do a bad job though, and I didn't dislike watching this at any point. Perfectly acceptable way to pass the time. See more

Ola G @Ollie1972 Jul 10, 2021 Michael Lynch (Kevin Spacey) is one of Dublin's most notorious criminals. He has two wives, sisters Christine and Lisa, as well as many children. When he is not spending time with his family, he is plotting heists with his gang. His actions make him an iconic figure, and he has a rapport with the general public despite being a criminal. During his elaborate heists, he concentrates on the showmanship as much as the crime itself. He pulls off a daring art theft, stealing several priceless paintings from Dublin's best art gallery, giving the authorities the slip. The Gardaí become more determined to catch him as time goes on, in particular Noel Quigley, an officer whose ambition to catch Lynch becomes an obsession. His actions also gain the ire of the IRA. Lynch finds himself in trouble when he is unable to sell a stolen Caravaggio painting, The Taking of Christ, giving Quigley the opportunity he was waiting for to try and catch him. Lynch is forced to go on the run, with his popularity with the public at stake... The film received negative reviews from critics. Christopher Null writing for Filmcritic.com gave it 1.5 out of 5 wrote: "I can only imagine one thing worse than Kevin Spacey trying on an Irish accent, and that's sultry Linda Fiorentino doing the same thing." Though critical of the accents, he says the biggest problem is the dull and less than ordinary script. Derek Elley of Variety magazine called it "an ordinary, decent movie. Neither an embarrassment nor a triumph, tedious nor gripping". Elley praised the cast but compared it unfavorable with John Boorman's 1998 film The General. A very slowpaced and quite boring film loosely based on the story of Martin Cahill, a famous Irish crime boss. Despite a strong cast the film never takes off. And Kevin Spacey nor the lovely Linda Fiorentino gets away with their poor Irish accents. Trivia: It was filmed in late 1998 and originally scheduled for a fall 1999 release, the movie was put out overseas first the following year but it never got a proper theatrical release in the United States, where it was released straight to video in January 2003, almost five years after filming began. See more

Mar 18, 2021 A rollicking good yarn. Well worth the watch....although subtitles would have helped. Will watch again when in need of a lighter moment it three. See more

Dec 7, 2020 It's fresh, it's fun, it's fast, it's weird, the English style that outruns in these elements all the other movies in this category. See more

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Ordinary Decent Criminal

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