★ 5 / 10
Michael Lynch (Kevin Spacey) is one of Dublin's
Ola G
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…
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.
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★ 7 / 10
3.5 stars; Yeah. This movie had a number
Ted B
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…
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.
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★ 6 / 10
This one tries to be like similar films
Aender S
This one tries to be like similar films of that era taking place in the UK or in Ireland but fails to be as good.
This one tries to be like similar films of that era taking place in the UK or in Ireland but fails to be as good.
•••
an above ordinary decent film