Northern Ireland must be a mess, if a guy like Martin Cahill can become a hero there.

Nicknamed the General, the real-life Cahill grew up in the Dublin slum of Hollyfield to become a notorious thief who stole not for a cause, or because he had to, but because he wanted to -- the better to get that big house, gain the loyalty of his friends and taunt all the authority figures who picked on him when he was growing up.

Director John Boorman's "The General" chronicles Cahill's adult life, beginning with his assassination (possibly by the IRA, with tacit approval of the local police) and then flashing back to the life of crime that led up to it.

The film is shot in black and white, with a documentary-style atmosphere that offers a feel for what it must have been like to grow up in Hollyfield. However, though Boorman's skills shine, Cahill is just too petty a character to sustain much interest.

As portrayed by Brendan Gleeson, in a performance that annoyingly calls for him to keep his hand in front of his face half the time, Cahill comes across as a thug with one heck of an ego, who keeps stealing just to see how far he can go. He steals from a store, he steals from a diamond dealer, he steals from anyone not lucky enough to be born in his neighborhood.

Then he moves out to the 'burbs. Big mistake. In Hollyfield, he's a hero; outside the neighborhood, he's just a nuisance. And if he thought the police picked on him while he was growing up ...

Gleeson tries to make Cahill sympathetic, as he stays one small step ahead of the police (represented by a jut-jawed Jon Voight, in full Irish brogue). At least, you come to admire his tenacity and singlemindedness.

But you never come to admire or feel for him, and when he gets his comeuppance, the reaction is not so much "Why?" as "Why not?"

'The General'

Starring Brendan Gleeson and Jon Voight

Written/directed by John Boorman

Released by Sony Pictures Classics

Rated R (violence, language)

Running time 124 minutes

Sun score * *1/2

Pub Date: 3/19/99