Sleepers
Sleepers, released in the late 90’s is a chilling story of innocence lost, pedophilia, revenge and redemption. This movie is based on a controversial novel about life in the Hell’s Kitchen( part of Manhattan, New York) in the late 1960’s in the backdrop of Mob(organized crime), Catholic Church, poverty and anguish of it’s blue collar inhabitants.
With a lineup of Super stars like Dustin Hoffman,Kevin Bacon, Robert De Niro,Brad Pitt, Ron Eldard, Minnie Driver,Jason Patric and Billy Crudup, Sleepers is well acted and deftly crafted. This is a story of how a simple prank which went wrong turns into a life changing event for 4 innocent boys (Lorenzo, Michael, John and Tommy) who are best friends. They steal a hot dog vendor’s cart of which they lose control of going down the steps and nearly causes a man’s death. They are found guilty of reckless endangerment and sent to a juvenile reform School( Wilkinson) in upstate New York. There, under the watchful eye of a sadistic guard named Sean Nokes (Kevin Bacon), they are subjected to mental, physical, and sexual abuse.
Although their sentences are only for a year, those twelve months fundamentally alter their personalities. Fast forward to 1981 when John and Tommy (Ron Eldrad and Billy Crudup) who have turned into hardened criminals have a chance meeting with Nokes in a restaurant and kill him in cold blood. The ensuing court drama entails Michael(Brad Pitt) an attorney in the D A’s office prosecuting his old friends while at the same time secretly plotting their acquittal. Lorenzo (Jason Patric) who is an aspiring newspaper reporter is helping Michael, along with Father Bobby ( Robert DeNiro) a washed out lawyer ( Dustin Hoffman) and Carol ( Minnie Driver), to turn the trial into a indictment against all the abusive guards, who they tolerated as delinquents 15 years ago at Wilkinson.
The movie’s moral compass is Father Bobby, a Catholic priest who recognizes that friendship and loyalty may require sacrifice of the soul, but doesn’t tread lightly across the line separating what’s legally correct and what’s ethically mandated. In fact, Father Bobby’s dilemma is arguably the most compelling aspect of Sleepers’ in the latter part of the movie. I am a big De Niro fan and this I have to say is one of his best performance.
In fact, De Niro isn’t the only one to turn in a powerful performance. Kevin Bacon as the ruthless, sadistic, pedophile cop is chilling. Ron Eldard, who has few lines to say in the movie, is brilliant. Dustin Hoffman as the lawyer with a substance problem is simply superb. Then there are those intense scenes in the Wilkinson reform school(nothing overly graphic is shown, but much is implied).
I have to caution you, this movie can be really disturbing and traumatizing and can leave a lasting impression.
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- one of my favorites… and not to mention that Dustin Hoffman and DeNiro came face to face for the first time. Though Hoffman didn’t have much to chew on as the alcoholic lawyer… many imprinted for life scenes… including the dinner scene in the end where everyone gets together to celebrate and then cut to the future and back to dinner… the future where shots of each of the friends is shown, some killed, some standing alone, the lady with the kid… it wasn’t much acclaimed upon it’s release but Sleepers was always special for me…
thanks cliff.. this is now on my netflix q right after city of god
@Oz,
One of my favorites too. I am re-watching all the ones I like,as the wife and kids are away on vacation to India. Like you said, it did not do too much on the box office but I have watched it about half a dozen times.
The scenes that stand out for me are the ones in which Nokes is getting shot in the restaurant booth…. as his face slumps into his dinner plate… the couple sitting across in the other booth going nuts…, also where the 5 of them ( 4 + Carol)are holding hands singing… ” Walk like a man… talk like a man”… Minnie Driver has a small role but she fits the part perfectly.
Truly a captivating story.
Alright.. I am off to watch “Ferris Bueller’s day off” and “Get Shorty” next.
Cheers.
I don’t dislike Hoffman - I hate him. Detest is more like it. Him and his navel gazing oh-so-aloofness when it comes to acting. In case you haven’t noticed, he has this fuck’ole victim like sorry look on his face all the time, no matter which role he plays. Or is it just me? Anyways, haven’t seen any of his movies besides All The President’s Men & Rain Man. Nope not even Graduate. But now that Oz has endorsed it, I got to watch this one. Video Ezy, here I come.
- wb, watch his Kramer v/s Kramer and Tootsie… plus a couple more… will email you…
Thanks Oz @};-
Love the book by Lorenzo Carcaterra, and the movie. Thought De Niro and Bacon were very good. Also thought that Brad Pitt did not complete justice to his character, when compared to the book (or it may have been the way the screenplay was conceived, I don’t know).
I liked the book better, though (I always do).
Cliff,
try watchin ‘mystic river’(2003). another one of those stories with a past. directed by Clint Eastwood.Sean Penn won Best Actor and Tim Robbins won Best Supporting Actor for this movie.
Wb,
You should watch K vs K. As part of a trivia for you…out of the 60 odd movies Dustin has starred in, 26 were based/adapted from novels and plays. Maybe that says a bit about his talent/preference or maybe you just haven’t watched enough Dustin movies.
Here is the list…
the graduate, midnight cowboy, john and mary, little big man, straw dogs, papillon, lenny, all the president’s men, marathon man, straight time, k vs k, rain man, death of a salesman, family business, billy bathgate, hook, outbreak, american buffalo, sleepers, sphere, wag the dog, runaway jury, lemony snicket’s a series of unfortunate events, racing stripes, finding neverland, the tale of despereaux (to be released).
Ranjit,
I agree with you. There are very few movies which have done justice to the book. Which is your fav? Maybe you can watch a few from Dustin’s list (if you haven’t seen them already).
@Cobain,
Yup, I did watch “Mystic River”. Liked it, but don’t have the urge to watch it again…The best of Sean Penn for me was “Dead Man walking” and Tim Robbins was “The Shawshank Redemption”.
Cheers..my man!
@Cobain: The best adaptations I have seen are ‘The Green Mile’, ‘Shawshank Redemption’, ‘Godfather’, ‘Psycho’, ‘Exorcist’, ‘Masoom’, ‘Misery’, and ‘Bridges of Madison Country’. I’d put the LOTR series in here too.
Some of the okayish ones in my book were ‘Primal Fear’, ‘Mysic River’, ‘Christine’, the Harry Potter series, ‘The Shining’, ‘One Flew Over The Cuckoos Nest’, ‘Fight Club’, ‘Sleepers’, ‘Rainmaker’, ‘Client’, ‘To Sir With Love’ etc.
Some of the really bad ones were ‘Runaway Jury’, ‘Pet Semetary’, ‘IT’, ‘Bourne Identity’ etc.
i think shawshank redemption is 1 of the adaptation which rose above the novel…i hv read both the book (four seasons methinks) and watched the movie for umpteenth times…n i think movie was amazin..
@ ranjit…i think fight club was great adaptaion.i rate it 1 above the notch
// cobain - thank you SIR, for your amazing recommendations. agree i haven’t watched enough hoffman to be able to comment on his acting. discovered sleepers during the wknd. mind blowing! hoffman was honest, but kevin bacon was a revelation. K vs. K is next.
of adaptations, some more from memory - trainspotting, siddhartha, clockwork orange, anderson tapes, election (matthew broderick’s comedy), bridge on river kwai, hunt for red october, catch-22… omen was an adaption too… wasn’t it?? i remember thumbing thru a jaico books version of it at a used books shop i used to frequent.
//ranjit/sammy - ever grateful to fincher for introducing tyler durden to the masses.