Michael Lynch keeps the police, the garda, of Dublin on their toes. Along with members of his gang, he robs banks and welfare offices and even art galleries. He lives with two sisters, Linda Fiorentino, (Helen Baxendale), and has children by both of them. Only when he goes up against the hard men of the IRA does it seem he might have met his match.
If the outline sounds familiar, it should. Last year, John Boorman`s The General, a masterly film, told the allegedly true story of Martin Cahill, who was wonderfully incarnated by Brendan Gleeson. Thaddeus O`Sullivan`s film uses the same story, basically, but changes the names, fictionalises it up, and gives it a ridiculously happy ending. Why on earth anyone involved thought the world needed two films about this character I can`t imagine but, sadly, this dumbed down confection will probably be seen by more people than the infinitely better Boorman film. Kevin Spacy gives an enjoyable performance in the lead.
