In this second
feature about the Irish gangster Martin Cahill, Kevin Spacey plays a
thinly fictionalized Belfast crook who’s so impressed with his own
thieving ways, the man’s smirk and ego overtake his abilities. Or maybe I mean
Kevin Spacey the actor falls into this trap. It’s hard to tell as his Irish
accent bounces and goes so much it could make a man puke his
Lucky Charms. Spacey is coasting in a film made in 1998, but unseen in
’Merica until 2003. With reason. He plays “Michael Lynch” (that is, Cahill of “The
General”) a gang leader with two wives (who are sisters), a bundle of children,
and a talent for eluding prison as he robs banks, dole offices, and –- in
a scene that shits on fact -– an art museum. Director Thaddeus
O’Sullivan’s story is so vacant of any danger it makes a crime all its own. But Spacey –- filmed before “American Beauty” -- smirks self-satisfied. His worst gig. Colin Farrell appears, pre-stardom. Sorry, Colin. C-
Lean on Pete
7 years ago
