Project Detail

Ordinary Decent Criminal

Tom Collins

Synopsis

Dublin 1998. An enigmatic, leather clad figure weaves his way through traffic on a powerful motorbike. This is Michael Lynch - thief, bigamist, liar, criminal genius and our hero.

Ordinary Decent Criminal is a classic gangster movie, which takes place in modern day Ireland. It follows the extraordinary adventures of an ordinary decent criminal - a man who robs from the rich but lives with the poor. He loves his two wives, sisters Christine and Lisa, his wild kids, his gang and, above all, his special way of life.

Michael is a suave, sardonic and sexy man: a criminal who strides the Dublin streets like a colossus. He dreams up robberies with hallmark panache which seldom fail to endear him to the crowd. He challenges authority at every turn, culminating in the ultimate art theft from Dublin's most prestigious art gallery when he outwits the police, Interpol and even the rest of the criminal fraternity.

Michael is driven by two fundamental beliefs: be loyal to your own and to hell with the establishment. He succeeds so well that what starts as a laugh evolves into something else. He begins to enjoy the sting more than the cash, and the notoriety most of all. As his ego drives him on, the police, in particular Noel Quigley, become determined to break him.

The police close in, increasing their harassment pressure on the whole gang, Michael makes a mistake that could break him, threatening his good name with the public, and his reliability as a bread winner. But he recovers his equilibrium in time to dream up a final grand scheme to dazzle - and survive the trap that has been set for him . . .

Details

Year: 1999
Type of project: Features
Format: 35mm Kodak
Director: Thaddeus O'Sullivan
Producer: James Mitchell
Executive Producer: James Mitchell
Director of Photography: Andrew Dunn
Principal cast: Kevin Spacey, Linda Fiorentino, Peter Mullan, Stephen Dillane, Helen Baxendale, David Hayman, Patrick Malahide
Screen Writer: Gerard Stembridge

Genre

Action Northern Irish Drama

Production Status

Complete

Production Company

Little Bird Productions in association with Tatfilm & Trigger Street Productions with participation of the Greenlight Fund, Irish Film Board and Filmstiftung NRW

Sales Company

Icon Int. Entertainment 37 Soho Square London W1V 5DG Tel: 020 7543 4300 Fax: 020 7543 4301

Page updates

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Suggest amendments

Kevin and Cassandra are a married couple who have lost their only daughter Hannah in a freak car accident. They both raised her differently. Kevin had been a traditional parent, Cassandra a permissive one. While Hannah had decided to exhibit her body and mind online, she cut adrift from her father and gravitates towards her mother. Her death drove a wedge between them. Their lounge becomes a battlefield where incendiary words and spiteful things are said. Their marriage is one where opposites no longer attract. Kevin is filled with loathing for his in-laws, his daughter’s boyfriend, himself. Cassandra wears her daughter’s favorite colours with pride and exhibits her painting on the walls. Kevin finds he is powerless in his home and Cassandra mocks the fact that it was her father who bought it. And when he finally leaves it, he leaves Cassandra forever.

Black Drama