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The General

The General

Crime · Drama · 1998

The real-life story of Dublin folk hero and criminal Martin Cahill, who pulled off two daring robberies in Ireland with his team, but attracted unwanted attention from the police, the I.R.A., the U.V.F., and members of his own team.

Movie details

The General

“The extraordinary true story of the rise and fall of the gangster, Martin Cahill.”

1998 Crime · Drama 2h 4m

Critical arithmetic

One number, for now.

TMDB

6.7 / 10

Community rating

The real-life story of Dublin folk hero and criminal Martin Cahill, who pulled off two daring robberies in Ireland with his team, but attracted unwanted attention from the police, the I.R.A., the U.V.F., and members of his own team.

CriticWise case file

What this film says about your taste.

Not a recommendation score. A measure of how closely the film’s taste signals resemble yours.

The archetype split

Who fights over The General?

The split comes from the same five-axis model used by the test, not audience ratings or review sentiment.

Taste neighbourhood

Nearby on the taste map.

TMDB supplies the candidates. CriticWise reorders them by craft, strangeness, prestige, emotion, and pace.

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Belly

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GoodFellas

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Names above the title

The people responsible.

Directed by

John Boorman

Written by

John Boorman

Brendan Gleeson

Brendan Gleeson

Martin Cahill

Adrian Dunbar

Adrian Dunbar

Noel Curley

Sean McGinley

Sean McGinley

Gary

Maria Doyle Kennedy

Maria Doyle Kennedy

Frances

Angeline Ball

Angeline Ball

Tina

Jon Voight

Jon Voight

Inspector Ned Kenny

Eanna MacLiam

Eanna MacLiam

Jimmy

Court is in session

Put The General on trial.

Two incompatible taste archetypes. One film. Read the arguments, then issue a completely binding cultural ruling.

The defence The Auteur Devotee

“Form is the argument.”

Every composed frame and deliberate cut is evidence that control can be thrilling in its own right.

The prosecution The Popcorn Loyalist

“Technique in search of a pulse.”

Immaculate construction is still construction. The film may be too busy proving its craft to feel alive.