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It manages the trick of respecting the aspirations of those left behind by the Celtic Tiger economy while handing out a few tough lessons on the cost of responsibility.
O'Connor has - helped in no small measure by a towering turn from Connors - come as close to a Dublin Boyz n the Hood as we could have hoped. It's noisy, loud, violent and sad.
The violence isn't played for laughs and Connors's performance is genuinely moving, though there's an irresistible sprinkling of salty, vulgar humour to lighten the otherwise bleak mood ...
Salty, funny, and enlivened by some fantastic Dublin rap music, Cardboard Gangsters has a rare authenticity in terms of its subject matter and location.
A film about drug dealers isn't to everyone's taste, but this is a well-made, gritty drama that doesn't glamorise anything or judge anyone, and all to a thumping soundtrack.
Mark O'Connor's film isn't subtle, but it's made with swagger and its antihero fits the bill as a certain kind of crime-drama archetype: overambitious, stupid and doomed, he nonetheless has a crude poignancy.