Cardboard Gangsters is a 2017 Irish crime film set in Darndale, Coolock, Dublin. It was funded by Broadcasting Authority of Ireland.[1]
| Cardboard Gangsters | |
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 Irish release poster | |
| Directed by | Mark O'Connor |
| Written by |
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| Story by | John Connors |
| Starring |
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Production companies |
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| Distributed by | Wildcard Distribution (Ireland) |
Release dates |
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Running time | 92 minutes |
| Country | Ireland |
| Language | English |
Plot
editThe film follows Jay and his friends as they attempt to take control of the Darndale drug trade from Murphy, who has controlled the Darndale drug trade for the last 30 years.
24 year old Jayson "Jay" Connelly, who lives with his friends in Darndale, Coolock with his friends Dano, Glenner and Cobbie; learns he is cut off from unemployment benefits due to a recent DJing gig. To make matters worse, he finds out his mother has been taking loans from Derra Murphy, the local crime lord, to pay for her debts and bills. Jay and his friends begin procure and deal drugs on Darndale territory, spiting Derra. All the while, Jay strikes up a relationship with Kim Murphy, Derra's wife, which ruins his budding relationship with Sarah, his girlfriend.
Kim is beaten to a pulp over her affair with Jay. Derra invites Jay over to his house with a job offer, only to be rebuffed by Jay at gunpoint. Enraged by the insult, Sean Murphy, Derra's hotheaded son, murders Cobbie in response. Jay and his crew retaliate by kidnapping and killing Sean. Glenner flees the suburbs, leaving Dano and Jay behind. Derra and his crew hunt down and kill Dano as Jay takes his family and Sarah, pregnant with their child, on the run. While at the airport, Jay receives a phone call from Kim, asking him to rescue her from the Murphy household. Allowing Sarah and his mum to go first, Jay goes back to pick Kim up out of guilt. It turns out to be a trap: Kim betrays him to Derra's gang for murdering her son. Jay is taken to the lake where he killed Sean and executed, the last thing he sees being the plane taking his loved ones to safety.
Cast
edit- John Connors as Jayson "Jay" Connolly
- Fionn Walton as Dano
- Paul Alwright as Glenner
- Ryan Lincoln as Cobbie
- Jimmy Smallhorne as Derra Murphy
- Ciaran McCabe as Sean Murphy
- Damien Dempsey as Curly Murphy
- Fíonna Hewitt Twamley as Angela Connolly
- Kierston Wareing as Kim Murphy
- Gemma-Leah Devereux as Roisin
- Kyle Bradley Donaldson as Stephen Kelly
- Lydia McGuinness as Christina
- Toni O'Rourke as Sarah
Reception
editOn the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds an approval rating of 94% based on 18 reviews, and an average rating of 6.7/10.[2] Moreover, it earned €550,000 at the national box office and became the most viewed Irish film of 2017.[3][4]
See also
editReferences
edit- ^ BAI website
- ^ "Cardboard Gangsters (2017)". Rotten Tomatoes. Fandango Media. Retrieved 23 March 2018.
- ^ Abbatescianni, Davide (22 January 2018). "Cardboard Gangsters is the most popular Irish film of 2017 at the box office". Cineuropa. Retrieved 27 February 2022.
- ^ Winter, Andrew (23 March 2018). "CARDBOARD GANGSTERS: Irish Crime Thriller Is Brutally Effective". Film Inquiry.