Review of The Devil's Own (1997) by Claudette A — 30 Dec 2012

Directed by Alan J. Pakula (Klute (1971), The Parallax View (1974), All The President's Men (1976) and Sophie's Choice (1982)), this is a taut thriller which already feels dated and is quite ignorant towards Northern Ireland as well.

It had the potential to be a good film, but it's let down by a poor script. With top talent on board in front and behind the camera, you'd have expected better from all involved. In 1992, IRA Gunman Frankie McGuire (Brad Pitt) is wanted by the British Army in Northern Ireland and after a shootout involving the SAS, McGuire escapes and manages to escape to America, posing as an Irish citizen under the name of Rory Devaney.

In America, he meets up with IRA supporter Judge Peter Fitzsimmons (George Hearn), who has "Rory" stay with New York police Sergeant Tom O'Meara (Harrison Ford) and his family. Frankie uses his time in America to arrange the smuggling of weapons back to Ireland, through black market dealer Billy Burke (Treat Williams).

However, Tom finds out "Rory's" past, and things get dangerous when Tom's family are threatened. It should have been a good film, but it hasn't aged well, and it's a shame that this came to bee Pakula's final film, considering the great films he made in the past, he deserved to have gone out on a better note than this one.