Review of Sleepers (1996) by Steve M — 26 Jan 2009

This is based on a supposedly true story as written by lorenzo carcaterra. the story as since been debunked as fiction, but it makes the film no less intense.

The basic gist of the plot is that 4 boys, best friends, grow up together in hells kitchen, new york, an area where crime is fairly prevalent. they jack a hot dog vendors cart, and accidentally let it fall down some stairs, hitting a guy at the bottom and hospitalising him. as a result they get sent to reform school, where they are physically and sexually abused. years later, two of the boys (who became cold blooded killers) saw and murdered the worst of the guards in a restaurant, and are put on trial for their murder, with another of the 4 being the prosecuting lawyer. the lawyer and the fourth boy (the central character of the story) work to get their friends off (without their knowledge) as well as ruining the lives of the rest of the abusive guards from the reform school.

The story is pretty grim, it's not a pleasant movie, but at the same time it carries fairly strong messages about friendship, loyalty and truth.

The acting is of pretty much the highest calibre in this film. de niro is obviously the man and does his thing. the four kids are good, brad pitt, jason patric, billy crudup and ron eldard as the older versions are very good, particularly patric and pitt. they're all ultimately overshadowed by kevin bacon's sicko guard, sean nokes. this is a merciless, evil character and bacon is suitably creepy, angry and impassive, a fairly memorable performance. dustin hoffman rounds off the big names, with a fairly minor role he is good, as is to be expected.

This is a film with a fairly horrific plot, elevated by superb performances from a great cast. it's not really a movie to watch if you're after something uplifting, but it's worth a watch if only to marvel at one of the great ensemble casts.