The General (1998)

Modern Crimes

By Jeffrey M. Anderson

Buy The General on DVD.

Director John Boorman returns to top form with this gorgeous, widescreen, black-and-white caper film. Brendan Gleeson stars as Martin Cahill, the real-life Irish criminal mastermind who outwitted the police time and again. Gleeson is a brilliant actor and provides Cahill with a grounded humanity and a special tic in which he hides his face with his hand or coat as often as possible. The great Eamonn Owens (The Butcher Boy) co-stars as a young Cahill in flashbacks, Jon Voight has an outstanding supporting turn as Cahill's police rival, and Maria Doyle Kennedy and Angeline Ball are memorable as Cahill's wife and sister-in-law (both were Cahill's lovers). The film glides on seriocomic wings and whisks us rapturously away. It ranks with Boorman's own classic crime film Point Blank (1967), and that's high praise.

DVD Details: Since The General was shot on color film stock, the DVD contains both the color and black-and-white versions, which is a shame. Most people will probably opt for the color, and therefore miss out on much of the experience.

Starring: Brendan Gleeson, Adrian Dunbar, Sean McGinley, Jon Voight, Maria Doyle Kennedy, Angeline Ball, Eamonn Owens
Written by: John Boorman, based on a novel by Paul Williams
Directed by: John Boorman
MPAA Rating: R for violence and pervasive language
Running Time: 124 minutes
Date: February 12, 1999