The General

The General is an Irish crime film written and directed by John Boorman about Dublin crime boss Martin Cahill, who undertook several daring heists in the early 1980s and attracted the attention of the Garda Síochána, IRA and Ulster Volunteer Force. The film was shot in 1997 and released in 1998. Brendan Gleeson plays Cahill, Adrian Dunbar plays his friend Noel Curley, and Jon Voight plays Inspector Ned Kenny. Plot The story of Dubliner Martin Cahill, who pulled off two daring robberies but came into conflict with members of his gang and attracted attention from the police and the IRA, and whose dealings with the UVF ultimately led to his downfall. Cast Brendan Gleeson as Martin Cahill Adrian Dunbar as Noel Curley Sean McGinley as Gary Maria Doyle Kennedy as Frances Angeline Ball as Tina Jon Voight as Inspector Ned Kenny Eanna MacLiam as Jimmy Tom Murphy as Willie Byrne Paul Hickey as Anthony Tommy O'Neill as Paddy John O'Toole as Shea Ciarán Fitzgerald as Tommy Ned Dennehy as Gay Vinny Murphy as Harry (as Vinnie Murphy) Roxanna Williams as Orla Production The film is based on the book of the same name by Irish journalist Paul Williams, who is "Special Correspondent" for the Irish Independent. The director, John Boorman was one of Cahill's burglary victims. This event is dramatised in a scene in which Cahill breaks into a home, stealing a gold record and pilfering a watch from the wrist of a sleeping woman. The gold record, which Cahill later breaks in disgust after discovering it is not made of gold, was awarded for the score of Deliverance, Boorman's best-known film.