The General

The General (1998) is John Boorman's crime drama, and you can watch online on iFILM. Shot in stark black and white across Dublin, this British-Irish production hands the lead to Brendan Gleeson, with Jon Voight as the dogged inspector chasing him.

At its center sits Martin Cahill, a Dublin thief the press and the streets both called the General. For two decades he ran rings around the law: a brazen jewelry heist, dozens of paintings hauled out of the Russborough estate, jobs planned down to the smallest move. Ninety officers tailed his crew around the clock, yet no charge ever stuck. Gleeson makes him charming and unnerving at once, a family man juggling two wives under interlinked roofs who robs on a grand scale and refuses to play by anyone's rules.

As the story tightens, the noose comes not only from the police but from the IRA and loyalist gunmen Cahill has managed to cross. Boorman picked up the directing prize at Cannes for this one and chose to drain the color out on purpose, letting the tale play like a rough street ballad. It's the kind of crook's life that needs no embellishment. Stream The General (1998) online on iFILM.