The movie is filled with actors and actresses who all seem to enjoy working together... and on movies directed by Neil Jordan. Brendan Gleeson was in Jordan's "The Butcher Boy," as was Sean McGinley and Eamonn Owens. Adrian Dunbar was the bastard IRA guy in Jordan's "The Crying Game." Non-Neil Jordan movies include a movie I never saw called "Trojan Eddie," which had Brendan Gleeson, Sean McGinley, and Angeline Ball. "Braveheart" (a movie I DID see, and enjoyed) also had Brendan Gleeson and Sean McGinley. Do you care about any of this? Probably not. I'll move on.
"The General" is the true story of a thief and his life. Brendan Gleeson plays the thief (named "Martin Cahill") and Jon Voight (who also worked with Boorman in "Deliverance") is the cop trying to catch him, but it's not a cops and robbers movie. As a matter of fact, Voight's character almost seems to admire Cahill.
In order for the movie to work, Martin Cahill had to be at least SLIGHTLY likable. It didn't work on me. I just couldn't like the guy. Instead, I found myself feeling sorry for his wife and the cop. Also, I woulda liked a better explanation of the strange relationship between Cahill, his wife, and her sister.
There were lots of amusing moments, and I liked the funky in-jokes (pay close attention to Cahill's t-shirts). Also, it was cool that Boorman worked in his OWN personal experience with the real Martin Cahill (Cahill stole, among other things, Boorman's gold record for "Dueling Banjos," the famous banjo music featured in "Deliverance"). But the story just didn't do it for me.
"The General"
was filmed in black & white, which is something I always like to see. But
despite the look of it, as well as the incredible acting, I just wasn't
all that impressed. Most "real" movie critics loved it though, so maybe
you'll like it more than I did.