Customer Reviews

Sleepers [VHS]

5 star:		(86)
4 star:		(34)
3 star:		(6)
2 star:		(11)
1 star:		(7)

 

 

SLEEPERS

(USA - 1996)

Aspect ratio: 2.39:1 (Super 35)
Theatrical soundtracks: Dolby Digital / DTS / SDDS

By virtue of its all-star cast, handsome production values and solemn subject matter, Barry Levinson's SLEEPERS was clearly intended as a Major Motion Picture from the outset. Based on the harrowing true-life bestseller by journalist Lorenzo Carcaterra - first published in 1995 - book and film describe the appalling fate of four Hell's Kitchen kids (played as children by Joe Perrino, Brad Renfro, Geoffrey Wigdor and Jonathan Tucker) who, in 1967, were sentenced to confinement in the 'Wilkinson Home for Boys' following a near-fatal accident involving a hot dog vending machine which they had stolen as a prank. Inside the reformatory, all four boys are sexually and emotionally abused by a group of sadistic guards led by the sinister Nokes (Kevin Bacon at his slimiest). More than a decade later, traumatized by their experiences, two of the now grown-up boys (Ron Eldard and Billy Crudup) corner Nokes unexpectedly in a local diner and murder him in cold blood. The other members of the group - one a prosecuting attorney (Brad Pitt), the other an aspiring writer and journalist (Jason Patric) - formulate a daring plan to have their friends acquitted, expiose the reformatory's dark secrets, and take revenge on their abusers...

Such an extraordinary tale was always going to be controversial, and so it proved. Upon release, book and film drew immediate fire from critics who accused author and filmmakers of embellishment and exaggeration, since no records could be found to prove that the trial depicted in the film ever took place within the Manhattan district, or that the Wilkinson Home for Boys ever existed - even though Carcaterra's book (and Levinson's script) makes it clear that most of the names, dates and locations have been changed or fictionalized to protect those involved, and that the records of all children held in institutions like Wilkinson are routinely deleted after seven years. Further scandal ensued when the movie ignited protests from those who believed the story drew unfortunate parallels between pedophilia and homosexuality, thereby reinforcing the worst kind of homophobic stereotype. The point is certainly valid, given Hollywood's shameful mistreatment of gay themes and characters over the years, but SLEEPERS doesn't seek to draw any kind of parallels, unconsciously or otherwise, merely to recreate events described in Carcaterra's book. Besides, monsters are monsters, whoever their victims may be.

As a movie, SLEEPERS is competent, briskly paced, and beautifully acted by a dream cast of old pro's (including Robert De Niro and Dustin Hoffman in key roles) and a new generation of rising stars. It's an ensemble piece, and the lack of grandstanding - in favor of narrative momentum - is admirable. But while the film is consistently intelligent and engaging, it's drawbacks are significant: The kids are terrific, especially Perrino, but the adults are burdened by the gravity of the subject matter, and Patric's sombre narration seems a little too laidback at times, lacking warmth or even genuine emotion, while John Williams' rambling score clashes resolutely with the film's epic visual sweep. Also, for obvious reasons, the moviemakers were unable to depict the kind of sexual atrocities outlined in the original book, with unfortunate consequences: Here, Nokes' murder seems more like the result of a petulant outburst by a couple of thugs, rather than the inevitable outcome of horrendous physical abuse. And during the subsequent trial, it defies belief that the prosecution's key witness - a former guard at Wilkinson - would incriminate himself so readily on the stand, as depicted here. That said, however, the movie is still a worthwhile entry, but the book is better.

This is a film that will stick in the mind of anyone who see's it. Jason Patric gives an excelent performance as Lorenzo, the main character and narrator, and Brad Pitt shows his usual class as Michael, the brains behind the manipulation of the law. Robert De Niro's flawless portrayal of Father Bobby is simply brilliant, and is one of the key's to this film's excellence. The young actors are every bit as good as their adult counterparts, with gripping performances from Joseph Perrino, Brad Renfro, Geoffrey Wigdor, and Jonathan Tucker. This film will shock you with its insight of boys' institution's amd the horror that these young boys were subjected too. If this story is indeed true, which we will never know for sure, then it shows us the brutality hiden deep in the concience of the guards, and in the fear of the victims. The story revolves around four friends from the town of Hells Kitchen, who pull a prank on a street vendor which goes wrong and they end up killing a man. The four are sentenced to time in "The Wilkinson Home For Boys" where they are subjected to routine sexual assaults by the very people supposed to look after them (Kevin Bacon, Terry Kinney). Two of the boys become hardened criminals, and upon seein 'Nokes'(Bacon) in their local bar they shoot him dead. From here the film becomes a legal drama, whereby the other two of the boys work to help their friends get away with their act of revenge. This hardhitting drama is one which you will not forget, and will want to watch again and again.

With a gripping story, augmented by the moral and ethical dilemmas of a lawyer, a journalist, and a priest, Barry Levinson's SLEEPERS is heart-pounding drama at its finest. Set in New York's Hell's Kitchen--with all of its subsequent turbulence and socioeconomic dysfunction--this film tells the story of four boys, four lifelong pals, who are sadistically brutalized in a reform school and carry the scars into their adult lives.

It comes as no surprise that two of the four embark on a problematic life of crime; it comes as even less of a surprise that when a former reform school guard is seen eating in a diner the two men extract a brutal and bloody revenge.

At this point SLEEPERS embarks on a breathless course of twists and turns, with one underlying, consistent theme: the unbroken bond of friendship. With their friends on trial for murder, the other two men, a prosecuting attorney (Brad Pitt) and a journalist (Jason Patric) put their careers and reputations on the line to exonerate the defendants--who are indeed guilty of murder--and to malign the former guard who was killed. The stage is set for courtroom drama that is literally spellbinding.

Kevin Bacon, Jason Patric, Brad Pitt, and Minnie Driver are exceptional in this film, but the cast is trumped by two "oldtimers," Dustin Hoffman and Robert De Niro. Hoffman plays an alcoholic defense attorney in over his head for the trial, while De Niro--as a loving priest who has been a father figure to all four of the boys--faces a titanic decision as he is called to testify as an important witness. The acting is compelling and absorbing, and so is the story. SLEEPERS is about as good as a drama can get.
--D. Mikels

I'm not going to go into the details of this movie much. From reading the reviews on this site, you either like it, or you don't. Frankly, I very seldom like any movie made in the last 20 years or so...but this one really grabbed me and kept my attention. All of the actors came across as very believable characters...something sorely lacking in most movies. The boys, especially, played their parts wonderfully.

The transfer of the film was great...clear, with little grain or other problems. About my only complaint in this area would be the inconsistent sound level. Some sound effects, such as the screaming subway train, would be speaker-rattling with the volume at the proper level for the dialogue.

The worst problem with this DVD, however, is the fact that it is a "flipper". For a movie of only 2-1/2 hours, this is inexcusable. Not only that, the transitions for the end of one side and the beginning of the other are extremely abrupt. Though I can't remember from seeing the movie in the theatre, it certainly appears something was truncated.

4 stars for the movie, 4 for the transfer, 1 for the DVD.

Rare is a movie that completely holds your attention for 2 1/2 hours but Sleepers is that movie. Played out by an exceptional ensemble cast (Brad Pitt, Jason Patric, Dustin Hoffman, Brad Renfro), it tells the tale of four young Hell's Kitchen boys who after pulling a seamingly harmless prank, are sent to a juvenile facility where they face unspeakable horrors at the hands of ther wardens. This trauma follows 2 of the boys into adulthood where they enter a life of crime. When they take their revenge on a particularly sadistic guard, it's up to the other boys, along with a childhood gal pal and a loving priest to save them. Every performance in this movie makes an indelible impression but the standouts are Deniro as Father Bobby, Frank Medrano as neighborhhod shopowner Fatman, Minnie Driver as Carol and Geoffrey Wigdor as young John. I watch this movie every November(it feels like a Fall time movie) and it never fails to amaze me. It is tense, heartwrenching, touching and at times funny. However the final 5 minutes always hit me where it hurts. When I think of how those kids were robbed of a normal life it sickens me. Sleepers is a phenomenal film that will leave a deep impression.

Sleepers is incredibly real. As a young boy growing up in the juvenile justice system myself, I found this movie to be dead-on-accurate. I wish, and I know that others who view this movie will wish the same, that this movie is taken with great seriousness, as there is definitely a problem in our juvenile justice system. The problems are portrayed in this movie with great ease. The storyline is exceptionally believable. A great movie to watch over and over.

You may find "Sleepers" to be just be a well-acted, provocative legal/psychological drama. However, beware. This purportedly true story just might sneak past your guard.

Robert De Niro is, well, Robert De Niro - always worth watching. But this is not a Robert De Niro film.

With "Sleepers" you won't just HEAR about past rapes of boys by slimy prison guards. "Sleepers" makes you experience (no male nudity shown, thank you) the Hell's Kitchen of childhood mental and sexual devastation. (I think that Joseph Perrino, the young "Shakes," deserves an Oscar.)

When the movie does a 15 year jump ahead, you are still feeling what they thought they had been able to leave in their past. Major message of the movie - you don't get past your past by trying to avoid it!!!! (That's an exclamation point for each "boy.") The next scene, when John (Ron Eldard) bumps into scumbag rapist former-guard (Kevin Bacon) in a dive diner, shocked me as much as it shocked John. John looking at himself in the bathroom mirror may be the most powerful single event in the movie.

A close second is when narrator "Shakes" gathers up the courage to go visit his father in desperate hopes of telling his own dad what was done to him while in the juvenile prison. His father is just not on the same page, and Shakes closes back up without telling him. Wow. If that scene doesn't move you.......

As an attorney, I particularly liked Dustin Hoffman's defensed attorney come-back (required by awesome character, King Benny). Hoffman's unassuming cross-examination of the only unmurdered rapist guard is one of my favorite courtroom scenes of any movie.

The movie's ending is either a flaw or a masterful choice by director Barry Levinson. "Sleepers" takes you from tragic childhood to tragic adulthood, but the very final scene is a flashback to pre-trauma childhood. Perhaps this ending is an offer of hope that innocence can be regained. Perhaps it's a thrown gauntlet, to challenge those who need to restart from the beginning - if we can.

This review refers to the Warner Bros. DVD edition of "Sleepers".....

"Sleepers" is a dark and disturbing film. It is one that will leave you thinking about it for some time afterwards. Not only thinking about the film itself, but maybe about the judicial system as we know it as well. It's a story of friendship. It's a story of abuse. It's a story of Revenge!...

Hell's Kitchen, late 1960's, four young teens on a dare, decide to pull off a horrible prank. Their actions nearly cost a man his life, and another his life's work. The court tries them, and sends them off to the "Wilkinson School for Boys" where they are to be "rehabilitated". Here at the school, they find themselves the victims of the most despicable crimes against human beings one could imagine. The guards, primarly led by Nokes, the most evil of all, cruelly abuse the boys physically, mentally and sexually. Their childhood slips away in those terrifying dark nights, and they make a pact never to discuss it again.

Fifteen years later, we now see them as adults. The time spent at the Wilkinson School, has left it's mark on these four men.
Two are bitter, tough, criminal types. One works for a newspaper, and one is a lawyer. All have never forgotten, the wrongs done them, but keep it buried deep inside. Buried deep, until the day Nokes makes the fatal mistake of being in the same restaurant as two of them.As they recognize him, we can feel their anger rising, and they take matters into their own hands.

An intricate plan is set in motion to now use the system that destroyed their lives, to uncover the horrible crimes committed at the school and to free them from the charges against them. The courtroom scenes are intense and edge of your seat drama that really have you thinking. When Nokes got his due, we felt the satisfaction they did, we definitely empathize with them BUT..is an eye for eye justice? ... Even their Priest, who has stood behind them all these years must put his faith to the test, when he is asked to be apart of the plan.

Director Barry Levinson, brings us this intense and powerful drama, one that will stay with you for a long time. Performances by such greats as Dustin Hoffman, Kevin Bacon, Brad Pitt, Robert Deniro, Jason Patric and Bruno Kirby are intense and realisitic. Billy Crudup, Minnie Driver and young performers Brad Renfro and Joseph Perrino, will touch you as well. A haunting score and excellent camera work add to the powerfulness of the film. It is not a film for everyone though, as I mentioned above some scenes are dark and extremely disturbing.

The quality of the DVD is excellent. It is presented in widescreen and Dolby Dig 5.1 Surround. The picture is clear, even in the darker scenes and the muscial score, background and dialouge very good. The only problem is having to turn the disc over about half-way through. This is an intense story, not one that should be interrupted. Other than a theatrical trailer, there are no special features. It may be viewed in French and has subtitles in English, French and Spanish.

For DeNiro fans I would also recommend two more with intense drama
Heat and The Fan

Thank you...Laurie

Sleepers is a film about friendship, honesty, justice and violence. Actors like Brad Pitt, Jason Patrick, Robert DeNiro, Dustin Hoffmann and Kevin Bacon on their tops show how life can be destroyed by action in affect.
The story sets in Hell Kitchen, New Yorks violent quarter in the sixties. Four boys live a joyfull life until one hot summer day changes their lives completely. A man gets seriously hurt as the four guys play a prank. The teenagers are send to a Detention Center where they experience torture and sexual abuse comitted by the wards. Of course the boys suffer even as grown ups this physical and emotional injure and as two of them accidently meet one of their oppressors they take deadly revenge. As the two are send to trail the old stricks of friendship are newly bound and the other two, one of them a lawyer, try everthing to get the two frienda free. A cruel fight against the wounds of the past begins.
The movie is dominated by flashbacks which show the crimes against the boys at the Detention Center and give the movie sort of mysterious deep.
The story is told by Shakes, one of the boys, who also wrote the same named novel which is said to be based on real happenings.
All in all Sleepers is an emotional, exciting film which shows the cruel reality of law and the ways of late justice.

(Claudia Becker, Claudia Pries, Janina Huljus, Marscha Uredat)

....you'll never quite get over how they made 'this' movie a classic. This is one of those gripping stories from beginning to end. While no way excusing what the kids did to get in that juvie prison, they did not deserve to be treated so brutally there. You feel like you could have pulled the trigger on Bacon's sadistic prison guard yourself. And Dustin Hoffman? To me he'll always be an actor playing the fringe type characters--Ratso, Raymond, Tootsie--like this burnt-out lawyer hired by the boys to lose to prosecuting attorney Pitt. Minnie Driver...I love that voluptuous Brit, anyhoo...play accomplice to the Hell's Kitchen crew of friends who essentially fight the system which made them what they've become. They movie shows how they beat the system however briefly. It's a good movie that I wonder how I missed when it initially came out. If you see it, I promise you will be moved by it.