Sleepers (1996)

Fresh and Exciting

It's entirely possible that sending the audience out feeling lousy was intentional

When a movie has you begging for it to end not even half way through it's pure crap. We've all seen this movie and this characters millions of times, nothing new in it. Don't waste your time.

This film is so real. It treats its characters with so much care and sensitivity.

Really like this one, such a powerful movie about childhood, friendship, lost innocence, suffering, spirit, hope, freedom and of course revenge... A brilliant film! It has everything: great cast, good story and likeable characters.. why isn't it more famous escapes me!

Sleepers. WOW I can't believe I had missed this movie years ago! It boasts a fantastic cast, all delivering captivating performances. The story line grabbed me from the beginning and held my attention, often with my stomach in knots with dread and/or anticipation. A heart wrenching story of friendship and redemption that you won't soon forget.

I have a strong memory of first viewing Barry Levinson's film of Lorenzo Carcaterra's controversial novel, which the author insisted was autobiographical, despite detractors who have challenged his claim. Regardless, the story of four childhood friends who pull a foolish stunt that changes their lives forever, remains emotionally powerful for the most part, and certainly there's no denying that situations like have happened and will likely continue to happen. The film loses credibility in the second half, but the impression it leaves will stay with you.The story opens in the 1960s in New York's Hell's Kitchen, which is masterfully re-created. Neighborhood pals Shakes (Joe Perrino), Michael (the tragic Brad Renfro), John (Geoffrey Wigdor) and Tommy (Jonathan Tucker) grow up together in a world that is an odd mix of childhood innocence, religion and organized crime. Their ally is Father Robert "Bobby" Carillo (Robert De Niro, who else?) who tries to guide them and encourage them to see beyond Hell's Kitchen. An enjoyable oldies soundtrack adds to the spirit of the story until things change for the worse for the young protagonists. A prank goes terribly wrong, critically injuring an innocent bystander and the boys find themselves sentenced to do time at the Wilkinson's Home For Boys, a juvenile institution where dangerous offenders are housed. Shakes, Michael, John and Tommy find the grimness of the institution difficult, but that does little to prepare them for the nightmare they end up enduring at the hands of sadistic guards, lead by Sean Nokes (Kevin Bacon, in another villainous turn), and it's easy to despise him and the other guards (played by Terry Kinney, Jeffrey Donovan and Lenny Loftkin respectively) for their brutality towards these vulnerable adolescents. Sexual abuse is implied but not shown graphically, but the disturbing sounds of screaming and the broken looks on the faces of the boys more than gets the point across. I'm always somewhat surprised that many reviews overlook just how effective the child actors are, and how they essentially carry the first half of the film. They are all extremely natural, their rapport is believable, and they convey much more with facial expressions than any dialogue. Brad Renfro's performance is especially poignant in retrospect, not only due to his tragically early death but the strong likelihood that he was victimized himself in real life. It adds a more disturbing and touching aspect to the viewing experience.Fast forward to 1981, and John (now played by Ron Eldard) and Tommy (now portrayed by Billy Crudup, in his film debut) have become hardened criminals and one night they come across Sean Nokes by chance in a pub. They take this opportunity to exact revenge, and both Eldard and Crudup give powerhouse performances. Unfortunately, after that, they take a backseat until the film's conclusion. The same can be said for Minnie Driver, who plays the adult Carol Martinez, who was a companion to the young men in the past and still cares deeply for them. Michael (Brad Pitt in the adult role) and Shakes (Jason Patric, who also provides voice-over narration) are both portrayed by competent actors, but their performances are uneven; at times they seem emotionally invested and other times they just seem to be going through the motions. Michael is now a prosecutor and he uses the case as a way to get revenge in his own way, and to do his best to make sure that his friends are acquitted. But will he be able to pull it off? Robert De Niro remains the constant throughout as the priest who will do anything for his boys, while Dustin Hoffman as defense attorney Danny Snyder has little more than a cameo. Bruno Kirby and Vittorio Gassman give respectable supporting turns, but the film belongs to the child actors, De Niro and to a lesser extent Eldard and Crudup. In some ways, "Sleepers" suffers the same fate as similarly flashback-driven movies such as "Stephen King's It" (1990) and "Now And Then" (1995), where the adult actors aren't nearly as compelling as their child counterparts, despite the talent involved.The questions raised here are valid and worth examining. Surely the trauma of abuse, particularly sexual abuse is extremely damaging and soul-destroying, but is it ever acceptable to take the law into one's own hands? Is vigilante justice the answer or does violence simply beget more violence and bloodshed?True story or not, this is an issue that needs to be addressed on both counts.

This is, quite possibly, my favorite movie of all time. Brad Pitt, Jason Patric, Robert De Niro, the entire cast do a wondrous job in this film.The cinematography is superb, the acting is bar-none, the choice of actors is top-notch. If I were to make ONE complaint about this film is that it did not receive the attention I think it \, rightfully, deserved.I love the setting. Having once resided near New York City, the movie actually made me wistful for a hot dog (or slice of New York pizza!) and a large coke. It is sad to say, too, that Brad Renfro, who played Brad Pitt's character, Michael, as a young man, died of an overdose several years ago.