Sleepers (96)

4/14/97

There's been a lot of talk about the vigilante aspect of this film. It's about a group of friends who grew up in Hell's Kitchen in New York City. They remain friends through thick and thin. A childhood prank goes terribly wrong and they end up in reform school. All of the actors are excited because now their Bacon number is 1 as Kevin stars as a despicable school guard. The kids are subjected to pretty much horrific abuse while there. They make a pact never to talk about what happened to the outside world. Now it's 15 years later and the group of four has gone their own way. Two of them are gang guys who kill often, one's a fledgling reporter at the Times, the fourth is an Assistant District Attorney. When one of the guys comes across Bacon, eating alone in a restaurant all these years later, the four will be reunited in their hatred.
We've got DeNiro and Hoffman and Pitt and Driver and the EMT from E.R. and the kid from THE CLIENT and the guy that Julia left Keifer at the altar for. And of course Bacon. The cast is first rate and the narration and storytelling are good also. Minnie Driver absolutely nails the New York accent. I was pleasantly surprised by Hoffman as a bumbling drunk attorney who used to be brilliant. He inhabited the role. I'm not as sure about Mr. DeNiro. No one will ever question his acting chops. He plays a Catholic Priest and I guess since I believed that he was, it couldn't have been that poor of a performance. But when I look at him tilt his head to the side and toss a cigarette on the ground, I feel like I've seen it all before. I guess I'm being nitpicky. Pitt is strong as the mastermind of the group. The kids get more screen time than the adults and they were very good. It definitely wasn't uplifting and I'm ambivalent about how it made me feel. It was nice to see such a good collection of actors. Driver was the lone person on screen with ovaries. Her character was unique to say the least. She was the one cool girl that the boys would hang out with. Apparently they all dated her in different stages of life. She really is a screen presence.
Kevin Bacon Robert De Niro Dustin Hoffman Bruno Kirby Jason Patric Brad Pitt Brad Renfro Ron Eldard Billy Crudup Vittorio Gassman Minnie Driver Cinematography by Michael Ballhaus Written by Lorenzo Carcaterra and Barry Levinson Directed by Barry Levinson
40 critics 6.4 Ebert *** Maltin **^ Stack 4.0 Shulgasser *** Gleiberman C
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