Genres

Visitors Review

frederic.philip 2013-06-17 21:20:54

Not a very good remake of "The General"

Unlike what's written in the ending credits, this film is based on a truestory. And it's the remake of a very good movie called "The General" (1998).Every single scene in "ordinary" is based on it.SPOILER!The only difference is that "The general"'s end is the *real* one (Martinbeing killed by the IRA), whereas "ordinary decent criminal" features astupid Hollywood-like happy ending.So, my advice is: instead of seeing a remake (with good actors, though),have a look at the original movie.

2013-06-17 15:52:04

Spacey must have had a double!

Spacey's character moons the press near the start of the movie. However, the moon was hairless and curvy. In "American Beauty," Spacey showed that he has a nice posterior, but it was hairy and a bit flat. Like Kevin Costner and Val Kilmer, Spacey must have added to the list of Hollywood actors who wimp out of nudity. He is not as brave as Harvey Keitel, Ewan McGregor, or Jude Law. What a shame coming from a man who is usually so edgy in his work.

Supernova90 2013-06-13 23:32:08

It tries to be something it isn't.

Set in Dublin, Ordinary Decent Criminal is a story about Michael Lynch- heist planner and family man. The film is loosely based on Martin Cahill, a notable Irish crime lord.However, due to a movie already being filmed about him at the timeOrdinary Decent Criminal was being made the storyline had to be changedhere and there.I sat down to watch the movie with high-expectations for a few reasons.The first being Kevin Spacey stared in it, the second being that I'm afan of Irish and UK crime movies for the stylish filming and wittydialogue - however this film fell short and only had a little bit ofboth.The accent from Spacey and the female leads seemed too forced and I wasleft trying to figure out why a local actor wasn't cast as the leadrole - it would've felt more natural.Unlike Snatch and Lockstock & Two Smoking Barrels, this movie isn'tmemorable, witty, or as snappy as it makes itself out to be.Overall the movie was good, but it wasn't great. I would hire it, butnot own the DVD.

harpsgrl 2013-06-13 07:01:34

Rent The General

Go see the The General, the story this movie is based on. The Generalis much better and acted. The ending not plausible in this film plusKevin's accident annoying. I know they changed the names of the realpeople giving them "license" to mess with the facts but this is stillthe story of The General, a criminal who gave no second thought tomurder and torture. I can't believe anyone would want to try and implythis man was noble. I found Kevin's accent distracting. He is a goodmimic but keeping the Dublin accent going for an entire film was morethan he could handle. One positive about the film, Kevin was impressedwith the work of a mainly unknown actor named Colin Farrell and helpedspread the word around the U.S. film community about him.

eyal philippsborn 2013-06-09 22:04:06

ordinary ename film

Let me cut to the chase-the problem with this film is kevin spacey. Don'tget me wrong, spacey is still one of the greatest actors in contemporaryfilm, and he plays well here too- but the fim itself is nice at best andafter being accustumed to associate spacey with masterpieces like:"Americanbeauty", "se7en" to name just a few, an o.k. simply doesn't cutit.On to the film, michael lynch is a sophisticated irish, fun loving,pro-bigamy (married to two women who get along, sci-fi movie right there)kind o'criminal who overcomes the obstacles that the unpotent english copspost him. after the theft of some very expensive paintings, the britsdecideto fight it the old nasty way- making the everyday lives of michael and hisfamily a nightmare. michael knows that there are two ways to end it:turninghimself in or getting killed.I won't give away the ending but this gordian tie is untied in anunexpectedway (no match for the "usual suspects", though)the REAL blame for this movies' mediocracy is the director who, to myunlearned opinion, failed to give spacey the proper background for irishheritage, at one point you see spacey struggling to join a his fellow gangmembers while they chant an irish folk song. I think that a good directorshould give the actor a couple of days of atmosphere absorption beforeshooting the first reel but that's me.I wouldn't worry about old kevin though, seems to me that despite a fewhitches, he sure knows what scripts to pick and at his current status, hecan get any script he want.I think he chose this film for his ownentertainment, if it's not on T.V. it probably won't beyours.6.5 in my scale.

msbull 2013-06-09 16:47:56

So very very disappointed.

I was really looking forward to watching this film. It had all theingredients of a great tongue in cheeker, but it just didn't cometogether AT ALL. Kevin Spacey's accent was tolerable except thatsometimes he forgot to use it and I would rather NOT have had to listento Linda Fiorentino's pale attempt. She and Helen Baxendale weretotally lacking in charm and personality, thankfully their screen kidshad loads, so you could find at least some members of his 2 familiesendearing. You could have strained spaghetti with the plot and I'm surethat the script was written by some adolescent schoolboy in a highschool English competition. That said, when I wasn't cringing, I wassmirking so it wasn't a totally wasted 90 minutes. I did find thesuperimposing of Kevin's face on the painting very clever and quitefunny. Maybe I'm being a bit harsh but I was expecting a bit of qualityviewing and it just never came.

pomegranite 2013-06-05 08:11:04

Very poor effort

Another poor effort by a top American actor to recreate an authenticIrish accent. The overall effect was cringe-worthy for any Irishaudiences. I turned this movie off, couldn't watch it all. It's looselybased on the story which is much better relayed in 'The General'. So ifyou want to know the story of one of the most notorious criminals inrecent Irish history, look out for that version with Brendan Gleeson.(incidentally, John Voight does a excellent regional accent in thatfilm, so it can be done!). Not worth your money, if you likeauthenticity in any form. It also tries to squeeze laughs formsomething which was actually quite grim. It's about as historicallyrealistic as Disney's Pocohontas....

2013-06-04 17:04:32

Ehh, whatever.

I got my hands on a copy of this film last year after months of hunting and persistence. I was a little disappointed after seeing it. There were quirky parts and typical Kevin-Spacey-good-times. But the result left me in a question mark stage. Not sure if this film is for the average Joe looking to see a flick, but it is semi-pleasing for any Spacey fan.

Jerome Wilson 2013-06-02 07:21:02

Little "Criminal"

Britain has made a number of great crime films lately like "Sexy Beast"and"Snatch". This is not one of them. It's just too mild-mannered and lacksthecocky snap this sort of film usually has. It doesn't help that this masterIrish criminal and his wife are played by the eminently non-Irish KevinSpacey and Linda Fiorentino. Spacey virtually sleepwalks through his rolewhile Fiorentino does one of the worst Irish accents of all time. Theyespecially stand out among a genuine Irish supporting cast that is farmorecomfortable in their roles. Pierce Brosnan, a real Irishman, might havebeena much better lead.

2013-06-02 00:00:35

Color Me Crazy, But I Loved This Film!

I rented this from Netflix and watched it last night at home. What a very pleasant surprise! I am a huge Kevin Spacey fan so I love all his films. I had never heard of this movie and wished it had been released in the US back in 2000 when it came out overseas. Breathtaking photography of beautiful Dublin and the Irish countryside. Ireland is very photogenic! The camera loves her! Colin has a walk-on and speaks maybe two words in the entire movie. The promo is misleading. He does not have a big part in this film. It is all about Kevin Spacey who is totally believable as an Irishman. The story is such a romp! It involves crime, love, kids, the Catholic Church, robberies, coppers, bad guys, good guys, the IRA, funny chases in Dublin and all around the outskirts. Motorbikes, art theft, you name it. This movie has it all. I can't believe this is a true story! I judge a film by how many times I walk away from the screen to do odds and ends like go to the kitchen to get something to eat/drink. I did not move from my seat during the entire film. That means it is an automatic 5. If you love Kevin Spacey, love Irish films, love the Irish countryside, and love a really entertaining film, you will love this one. I certainly did.

drinking_irnbru 2013-05-30 22:00:24

Go see 'The General'

I'm a big fan of Kevin Spacey's work, but this is a sub-standard film. Ifyou think it looks interesting, or you saw it and liked it, go and checkoutJohn Boorman's "The General". It is basically about the same guy, but isfar superior in every way (and doesn't suffer from the Hollywoodglorifications).

Chris_Docker 2013-05-30 09:35:53

Fun, but don't get off the couch

Good choice for Sunday afternoon video once it comes out of the cinemas.Spacey plays a likeable "decent" Irish criminal hoodwinking the police andgetting away with it for quite a while. Amusingly told but nothingspecial.A fun movie but not necessarily worth the trip to the cinema unless youhappened to be passing . . .

Thomas Schmitz 2013-05-28 20:58:32

Loses in comparison with "The General"

The German regional-broadcast-station WDR has shown both "The General" andODC. On Saturday I've seen "The General" and I thought, it wasn't verybad,but not very good too. But yesterday I've seen ODC and I switched it offafter about an hour. Although Kevin Spacey was the main actor the moviewastotally confusing and seems restless. "The General" told the storystraightand ordered, but ODC just wanted to be cool. There is a reference on theGuyRitchie Movies "Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels" and "Snatch", butdoesn't have the Coolness of these movies.So, in the end I would rate it 3 of 10!

dromasca 2013-05-28 07:56:58

Kevin with Sopranos in Dublin

On the wings of the Sopranos era concept 'crime is a business as any other',here comes the Irish version. The problem is that it lies entirely on theshoulders of Oscar-touched Kevin Stacey. It tries to be a very Irish film,with human and enjoyable gangsters, the cops are the villain, and thevictims never really show up. The charm relies entirely on Kevin Stacey'sperformance, though some other good acting can be seen around - for exampleLinda Fiorentino who gets too little screen time, in my opinion, and someother supporting actors who must be Irish or British because they are bothgood, as well as fresh faces. However, acting only cannot save the movie, itis after all easy to forget, and certainly cannot provide the answer to thekey question - can ordinary decent criminals really be ordinary decenthumans?

Stephen Watt 2013-05-22 05:03:42

Accentuate the negative

This film worked quite well as a comedy, with a notorious criminalmaking fools out of the Gardai. As such, I would have given it 7 or 8out of 10. Kevin Spacey is always worth watching, as is David Kelly,who had a cameo role as the priest. However I have a couple ofreservations.Firstly, you can only go so far with comedies on this subject: so youhave to ignore the torture and violence scenes. You could have done an"A-Team" where nobody gets hurt, but since this is loosely based on areal life criminal, that would have been hypocritical.Secondly, I have never in my entire born days heard such appallingDublin accents. I had to laugh when I discovered that the dialoguecoach was called Brendan Gunn - he should have been fired instead ofall the other guns that were fired on screen. Spacey's accent never gotpast Rockall. And he was far from being alone in this respect. Castingdirectors should know better.Dublin accents (north or south of the Liffey) are not easy, even forCork or Belfast people, but for good examples of it being done well,see Kate Hudson in "About Adam".However I have to admit that I did quite enjoy the film.Finally for examples of accents bad enough to spoil films, try MichaelCaine in Hurry Sundown and Sean Connery in The Molly Maguires oranything else for that matter. Except that Connery always gets awaywith it.

Troy 2013-05-22 04:40:49

Very Ordinary Movie...

I had pretty high expectations when I went into seeing this movie. Withthe likes of Kevin Spacey and Colin Farrel, why wouldn't anyone expectgreatness? Instead, I was reduced to watching a cheesy movie with themost god awful Irish accents I've ever heard in any movie, period.Kevin Spacey can NOT pull off an Irish accent to save his life and hemade a huge mistake in taking this movie project.It wasn't my cup of tea and I absolutely hated this movie. I gave it a5 out of 10 for the simple fact that outside of the cheesy accents anddialog, the plot and acting was semi-decent.Was that enough to salvage this garbage heap of a film? By all means,NO! Stay away from this stinker, even if you are a HUGE Kevin Spaceyfilm. Go rent K-Pax instead, you won't be disappointed in that gem of afilm.

morrison-dylan-fan 2013-05-14 08:16:03

an above ordinary decent film.

After having heard that this was a good film from a friend of mineyears ago.I have at last rented it,and while it got swept-under by thefantastic American Beauty,this is still a very good Irish/English film.The Plot:Michael Lynch(Kevin"K-Pax"Spacy)is someone who cares about his wife andkids,but he also leads another life as a leader of a gang(that includesa pre-fame Colin Farrel!)The gang are constantly getting followed bypolice who want to catch them doing the crimes,due to the media outletsmaking Michael look like a modern-day "Robin Hood!",so Michael decidesto pull off the "ultumate" crime-that is to steel some very valuableworks of art.But with Micales addiction to the lime-light,and with thepolice catching up,the crime is sure to end in bloodshed. View on thefilm:While the accent's in the film do make it a bit tough to fully getsucked into the film(due to knowing how the actors "really" sound.)Theyare able to still keep you interested in the film.Spacy gives a verygood and interesting performance in that,unlike Spacys character inAmerican Beauty,Spacy has a self-confidence and determination thatsunlike most of his performances. Final view on the film.A very enjoyable English/Irish film,with a very good performance bySpacy.

dan-476 2013-05-13 14:48:05

Pulp Fictionised account of life of Dublin gangster, Martin Cahilll

Coming on the back of two other films based on real-life Dublin criminal,Martin Cahill, Thaddeus O'Sullivan's 'Ordinary Decent Criminal' is slicklymade, glossy but ultimately soulless.As Michael Lynch, Kevin Spacey steps into Cahill's shoes previously occupiedso effectively by Irish actor, Brendan Gleeson in John Boorman's 'TheGeneral' and so disappointingly by Scotland's Ken Stott in 'ViciousCircle'.The results in this movie are mixed. Spacey has the right sense of mischiefto carry off a role like this. His accent is wobbly though - taking inalmost every Irish county, North and South.He just about gets away with it because Spacey brings a lot of baggage withhim from his previous film roles enabling the mischievous screen persona hehas so carefully crafted over the years to carry a movie as mediocre asthis.The impressive line-up of actors in his supporting cast disappoint,though.Peter Mullan and David Hayman (who were both so, so good in Ken Loach's 'MyName Is Joe') are totally wasted as Michael Lynch's henchmen. Compare thisto Adrian Dunbar and Sean McGinley's performances as similar characters in'The General'.Linda Fiorentino is reduced to a dull supporting role as one of Lynch'scommon law wives. Helen Baxendale makes virtually no impression as the otherwoman in his life.By way of contrast, Maria Doyle Kennedy and Angeline Ball are far moreimpressive in the corresponding roles in 'The General'.'Welcome to Sarajevo's' Stephen Dillane and 'The Singing Detective's'Patrick Malahide are stock keystone cops, forming part of the bumbling Gardateam who try to jail Lynch.Even accomplished Irish actor, Gerry McSorley (chilling in Jim Sheridan's'The Boxer' and in 'In the Name of the Father') is justwasted.Thaddeus O'Sullivan and his screenwriter, Gerry Stembridge have come at thestory of Martin Cahill from a more entertainment drivenperspective.The film looks great - O'Sullivan's background as a director of photographypays off.However, it inevitably suffers in comparison with Boorman's biopic becauseof its glossy Pulp Fiction style.At times, it just comes across as smug.When Boorman's movie was released in Ireland, it inevitably generatedcontroversy as all big screen accounts of real life figuresdo.There were accusations of Cahill's life being glamourised, of his crueltybeing glossed over in favour of an urban Irish Robin Hood stylestory.Some people argued it was immoral.They should look at O'Sullivan's film. Crime does pay in the movie.Cahill/Lynch is depicted as a loveable rogue.Whereas Boorman's film does not shirk in showing Cahill's vicious side - thesnooker table scene - O'Sullivan and Stembridge dream up a more elaboratetorture scene and even then, it's thrown away in a matter-of-factway.The conclusion also beggars belief.'Ordinary Decent Criminal' is a terrible disappointment. Good soundtack byBlur's Damon Albarn though......

Anthony Dunn 2013-05-08 22:38:37

Has Hollywood infested the Irish filmakers?

Ordinary Decent Criminal has just been released on video out here in theStates and I was saddend to see that Hollywood's influence has sucked theorginality out of Irish filmakers.I was ready to sit down and watch one of my favorite actor's, KevinSpacey,in this movie, when 10 mins into the film I realized I was watching abloodyremake of "The General", which starred Jon Voight and Breandon Gleeason.Atfirst it was hard to swallow the Irish accents, but I got used to it. Istayed with the movie noticing differnt changes from the other greatmovie,The General, but I was pleasantly surpised that the movie turned outto be really good. Of course I felt that Linda Fiorentino was totallywasted in the part of Spacey's wife, and poor Collin Farrell, if he was inthe movie more than 5 mintues that would be something.Overall I'd say the film was watchable. Spacey is good and there aresoildpeformaces from the rest of the irish cast. If you haven't seen "TheGeneral" I suggest you see that film, then watch this fim just to enjoySpacey doing what he does best, ACTING.

2013-05-08 09:52:26

Though not a masterpiece, a movie worth watching!

Ordinary Decent Criminal brings to the screen the story of an Irish gangster (robber/thief) whose schemes provoke the wrath of both the IRA and the police.The movie is action packed and very witty, while the acting is excellent.Kevin Spacey, Colin Farrell, and the rest of the cast have truly outdone themselves with their performances, which are outstanding to say the least! All the actors, without exceptions, give it their 100% and it really shows! The plot, the setting, the dialogues, and the music are all wonderful!The rating could have been PG-13, as there's no serious reason really for an R rating. In short, it's a movie definitely worth watching, as it will provide for an evening's entertainment, though you might want to stop short of buying it.Strongly recommended for those with a soft spot for Ireland and all things Irish!