[.ca] Sleepers (Widescreen) (ISBN 0790729393)

From Amazon.com:
The first thing you need to know about Sleepers is that it's based on a novel by Lorenzo Carcaterra that was allegedly based on a true story. The movie repeats this bogus claim, which was attacked and determined by a wide majority to be misleading. Knowing this, Sleepers can be a problematic movie because it's too neat, too clean, too manipulative in terms of legal justice and dramatic impact to be truly convincing. And yet, with its stellar cast directed by Barry Levinson, the movie succeeds as gripping entertainment, and its tale of complex morality--despite a dubious emphasis on homophobic revenge--is sufficiently provocative. It's about four boys in New York's Hell's Kitchen district who are sent to reform school, where they must endure routine sexual assaults by the sadistic guards. Years after their release, the opportunity for revenge proves irresistible for two of the young men, who must then rely on the other pair of friends (Brad Pitt, Jason Patric), a loyal priest (Robert De Niro), and a shabby lawyer (Dustin Hoffman) to defend them in court. Despite the compelling ambiguities of the story, there's never any doubt about how we're supposed to feel, and the screenplay glosses over the story's most difficult moral dilemmas. And yet, Sleepers grabs your attention and pulls you into its intense story of friendship and the price of loyalty under extreme conditions. The movie's New York settings are vividly authentic, and Minnie Driver makes a strong impression as a long-time friend of the loyal group of guys. --Jeff Shannon

Sleepers:
Sleepers is a phenominal movie that shows a group of boys growing up and the loyalty they have for each other. All they have is each other and their neighborhood. They protect each other and witness the protection of their neighborhood. The book is one of the best written and the movie follows suit with the spectacular word for word narration of Jason Patric which seems pull the movie into the classic realm. Pay particular attention to the acting job done by Robert Deniro. This is quite possibly his best acting job to date. A good movie with great acting in a well presented package. A+

Powerful:
This is a very dramatic and gripping film. The cast is great for the movie, though Brad Pitt is underused, and Dustin Hoffman may seem miscast. But overall a very good and extremely underrated movie.

NOT FOR THE SQUEAMISH, BUT A GRIPPING FILM:
Making a movie of such a controversial account that is told in the stunning book (with the same name) must have been a daunting task, especially when you fill it with A-list movie stars, some of which are not known for their sentimental sides. However, Levinson has created a masterpiece, and a film that everyone should watch. Sleepers might've not been the most eloquent courtroom drama, and the tactics used might be unrefined, but I absolutely loved it. It showed the consequences of prison guards' sadism, which affected the boys for the rest of their lives. All the actors give mindblowing performances, with no conceivable weak link. This includes the four child actors, who dominate half of the movie, but obviously don't receive as much press as their older counterparts. These four kids were outstanding in roles that must have been truly harrowing to play, especially the young boy who played John. Even Brad Pitt shows that under the right direction he can be more than a candy face. Add to this a great score from John Williams, and you will come back to this film time and time again. The DVD has great features too so in all a very worthy purchase.

Disappointed:
This movie has been out for years and somehow I had missed it. I picked it up recently at the movie store and boy it gives new meaning to the term "renter". Let me begin by stating that the film was mildly entertaining, thus the two stars I have given it. However, the rest is down hill. The overriding problem with this movie is the contrived plot. This could have been a serious drama, with excellent actors, about horendous child abuse, but it was reduced to a second rate revenge plot, that wasn't even convincing. The court scenes were pure non-sense, no Judge in his right mind would allow a trial to unfold like that, I haven't seen a confession from a witness like that since the old Perry Mason episodes on TV, did anyone else want to yell at this guy and remind him of his 5th amendment rights. I'm not even American and I could have figured that one out! The young actors were very good, but the story was weak. Some have described the movie as brutal yet what we actually are presented with is a lot of voice over and flashing around. I agree with one other reviewer that a much more compelling and realistic movie concerning institutional abuse was the Boy's of St. Vincent. In that film we feel the victims pain, see the crushed lives and see justice done in a court room, but not in some contrived plot. Deniro's character also troubled me. I like Deniro a lot but I was not convinced that this priest would throw away all of his ethics and lie to protect a murderer in this revenge as morality play. Perhaps I could have been convinced but this movie did not convince me that this faithful priest would participate in this crime. The actual DVD is also a disappointment with a double sided format that needs to be flipped half way through. If you want to see this movie I would suggest you rent it.

Supporting Characters Saved the Movie:
Boys from hell's kitchen get in jail. Tortured and raped by guards. Grow up and seek a Monte-Christo revenge. The plot is good, if a little bit too straightforward. The most interesting character in the movie by far is Father Bobby (De Niro), a 'cool' priest who is as comfortable beating up an abusive father as preaching. There's Fat Mancho who gives out street wisdom to kids; Danny Snyder (Dustin Hoffman), the lawyer who mutters as if to himself in court. These characters keep the movie interesting. The boys themselves, however, have little individuality. And like all coming-of-age movies (American Graffiti, Stand By Me, October Sky) there has to be oldies playing, and the number of boys has to be 4. Young Carol is an underdeveloped character whom the director expects the audience to remember later on. The prison guards (Kevin Bacon, Terry Kinney) do what the plot expects them to do, and King Benny provides simple mob flick entertainment. The grown-up boys developed some characters but, ironically, even with the Monte Christo plot, one cannot help but get the sense that the boys, whose lives would have otherwise been very unextraordinary, were saved by the dramatic event.