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Ordinary Decent Criminal
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== Production == {{Anchor|Development}} Thaddeus O'Sullivan began trying to adapt the book ''The General'' by [[Paul Williams (Irish journalist)|Paul Williams]], but abandoned a direct adaption. Having previously worked on [[Nothing Personal (TV series)|Nothing Personal]] about loyalist paramilitaries, and a [[biopic]] about John Gotti for NBC, O'Sullivan did not want to again work under the factual and legal constraints of a film based on real people, and was more interested in making a comedy or caper, and instead they developed their own story only loosely based on Martin Cahill. The original project went back on the market and John Boorman came on board as director. O'Sullivan was worried that investors might think the two projects were too similar, but after Boorman's ''[[The General (1998 film)|The General]]'' screened at Cannes people saw the films were very different and were willing to invest.<ref name="caper">{{cite web |date= 9 January 2000|title= A caper through Dublin's underworld |url= https://www.independent.ie/woman/celeb-news/a-caper-through-dublins-underworld-26252880.html |website= [[Irish Independent]] |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20200223122712/https://www.independent.ie/woman/celeb-news/a-caper-through-dublins-underworld-26252880.html |archive-date= 2020-02-23 |quote= Our film cost $10m and there's no way we could get that back without a name in it. }}</ref> {{Anchor|Casting}} O'Sullivan would have cast more Irish actors except for Boorman's film, and said "If his part had not been so prominent in The General, I would have had [[SeΓ‘n McGinley]] in my film. I'd have him in every film."<ref name="caper" /> He felt it was necessary to cast recognizable named stars to stand the best chance of recouping the film's $10 million budget,<ref name="caper" /> and was ultimately pleased with what he described as a "dream cast".<ref name="stars-out">{{cite web |date= 17 December 1999 |author= Martina Devlin |title= Stars turn out for a 'decent' gangster's tale |url= https://www.independent.ie/irish-news/stars-turn-out-for-a-decent-gangsters-tale-26129353.html |website= [[Irish Independent]] }}</ref> Having seen Colin Farrell in a play at London's Donmar Warehouse Theatre, Spacey invited him to appear in one of his films, and convinced director O'Sullivan to cast him.<ref>{{cite web |date= 5 November 2017 |author1= Donal Lynch |title= A-list star gave encouragement to young actors during his Irish visits |url= https://www.independent.ie/opinion/comment/a-list-star-gave-encouragement-to-young-actors-during-his-irish-visits-36290619.html |website= [[Irish Independent]] |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20200223123038/https://www.independent.ie/opinion/comment/a-list-star-gave-encouragement-to-young-actors-during-his-irish-visits-36290619.html |archive-date= 2020-02-23 | quote= Kevin Spacey's mangled gangster brogue from Ordinary Decent Criminal may go down as one of the worst Irish accents in celluloid history }}</ref>
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