The General

Interesting that other comments talked about this being Black and White. I just watched it in colour on Netflix, although it had been badly cut to 4x3

A '90s movie shot not only in black and white but 2.35:1. That makes it worth seeing right there

Brendan Gleeson is a really good actor, but I couldn't get into this at all.

Starring a who's who of Irish 90s acting talent (I use the word generously in some cases) and Jon Voight for some reason, it's unsurprisingly Gleeson who shines brightest here in the true story of the notorious Dublin Crime Boss, Martin Cahill. Will be interesting to see Spacey's 'Ordinary Decent Criminal' after this which supposedly tells much the same tale.

Well done in every respect, except that it's a bit too standard for me.

I kinda stumbled on this on TV in the middle of the night, wondering how pretentious it was to shoot a b&w movie in 1998. Well, my criticism soon died. I no longer noticed the missing colours, but was rather impressed by the authentic cast, the entertaining way of telling a story and the critical view of the IRA which is expressed in this film. Also I felt kinda nostalgic of the old days when all it took to be a successful criminal was audacity and a good sense of humour.

the first half is pretty good, but the second half...well, only on rare occasion is watching someone constantly badgered and followed by police amusing. somebody decided to squander a good story of crime by telling the truth, which i suppose can be a good thing, but when it ends like martin cahill's story did it's just depressing.

For being in black & white & having a thick irish brogue that renders many lines unintelligible, i had a surprising interest in this unusual cop & robber picture. It may be based on a true story, but it payed like fantasy to me. Mildly disturbing.

Very good.