Sleepers Movie Review 1996

Tense, gritty drama based on Lorenzo Carcaterra's book about four teenaged friends from Hell's Kitchen who get into trouble and wind up being sent to a reform school, where they're brutalized by guards. John (Eldard) and Tommy (Crudup), who grow up to be hit men, recognize their chief abuser (Bacon) years later and kill him. Their trial is prosecuted by Michael (Pitt), another of the gang, who's now the assistant DA. It's supposed to be a true story (the book is published as non-fiction) but doubt has been cast on Carcaterra's veracity (his character is the fourth member, journalist Lorenzo, played by Patric). De Niro and Hoffman excel in relatively minor, but pivotal, roles.

Distribution

Warner Home Video, Inc., 5775 Linder Canyon Rd., Westlake Village, CA 91362, URL: http://whv.warnerbros.com, Remarks: Does not handle retail queries from consumers; contact your local video distributor.

Available on VHS, DVD
Running time 150 minutes.

Cast and Crew

Genres

New York, New York, Order in the Court, Buddies, Child Abuse, Hit Men/Women, Justice Prevails...?, Nuns & Priests, Law & Lawyers, Organized Crime, Teen Angst, Revenge

Screenplay

Barry Levinson

Cast

Brad Pitt, Jason Patric, Ron Eldard, Billy Crudup, Kevin Bacon, Robert De Niro, Dustin Hoffman, Vittorio Gassman, Minnie Driver, Terry Kinney, Brad Renfro, Jonathan Tucker, Joe Perrino, Geoff Wigdor, Bruno Kirby, Aida Turturro, Frank Medrano

Cinematography

Michael Ballhaus

Director

Barry Levinson

Music

John Williams

Producer

Barry Levinson, Steve Golin, Peter Giuliano, Propaganda Films, Baltimore Pictures, Polygram Filmed Entertainment, Warner Bros.