classicsoncall Review of Cardboard Gangsters

Cardboard Gangsters (2017)

"Suffer the pain of discipline or suffer the pain of regret"

[7/10 · 25 February 2021]

This is my second in a row Irish gangster flick, the other being "Calm With Horses". Seems the Irish get their kicks with violent crime movies just like us Americans. I have to say though, the small time gang in this one never had a chance against the local drug lord and his thugs, and a hothead like Connolly (John Connors) was too self centered to realize that unintended consequences would come his way every time he flew off the handle. Getting involved with Kim Murphy (Kierston Wareing) was a major pitfall that would have been discovered in due time with an outcome on the ugly side. I got the biggest kick out of Jay's buddy Dano (Fionn Walton) who talked big but was unable to back up any of his statements or actions. For the non-Irish viewer, it takes a while to get accustomed to the dialog and what the characters are talking about. After enough mentions though, I figured out that a 'gaff' was a place where someone lived, but my favorite was 'session moths', which apparently referred to girls who liked to party. The story has an abrupt if not exactly telegraphed ending when Derra (Jimmy Smallhorne) caught up with Dano and Jay, the biggest mystery being why Jay ran back to Kim out of some sense of loyalty. He should have figured that with the guys he was messing with, she would have been pressured to have him show up to get what was coming to him. He got what was coming big time.