Sleepers DVD

Advantages: Good performances and sympathetic direction
Disadvantages: Shame that these horrors go on in the world

...when the Oscars came round, Sleepers only got one nomination and that was for "Best Music, Original Dramatic Score", which brings me neatly on to the sound track. The songs which appear in the film are mainly those from the sixties such as "Walk Like a Man" and "Good Vibrations". The score to the film was created by the legendary John Williams and features orchestral pieces which at times seem very threatening but works well as it enhances the story ...
...has been shot over several locations, from the actual streets of Hell's Kitchen to the dark and evil reform school and also into the magnificent court room. Each set has been authentically decked out with period items, as the films spans from the mid 60's to the early 80's. The Cast ----------- Brad Renfro ---- Young Michael Sullivan Brad Pitt ---- Michael Sullivan Joseph Perrino ---- Young Lorenzo 'Shakes' Carcaterra Jason Patric ---- Lorenzo ... Read review

Advantages: A deep and moving plot based on a real story & exceptional actor performances.
Disadvantages: Some disturbing scenes of sexual and physical assult.

Sleepers (DVD) ~~~The Cast~~~ The main characters: Group of four boys - John Riley (Geoffory Wigdor), Thomas (Jonathan Tucker), Michael Sullivan (Brad Renfro) and Shakes (Joe Perrino) and their adult counterparts Ron Eldard, Billy Crudup, Brad Pitt and Jason Patric. The boys' uncompromising friends Carol Martinez (Mini Driver) and Father Bobby (Robert De Niro). The leader of the prison guards Nokes (Kevin Bacon), lawyer Danny Snyder (Dustin Hoffman) ...
...~~~My Opinion~~~ Sleepers is director Barry Levinson's take on a Lorenzo Carcaterra novel, which itself is allegedly based on a real story. Knowing this I find the plot somewhat too convenient to be believable. However maybe after two levels of "based on" the storyline now rather resembles a Chinese whisper, embellished by each teller to the next listener. Before the credits the audience is informed that The New York state division deny the juvenile ... Read review

Advantages: powerful performances from a great cast
Disadvantages: pretends to be a true story

Most of the time Hollywood manages to take a really good piece of fiction and convert it into a disappointing film. Thankfully this is not the case with Sleepers. The original best-selling book by Lorenzo Carcaterra was successfully transported to the big screen by Barry Levinson along with co-producer Steve Golin and under the direction of Michael Ballhaus. This is a rare film that actually manages to stay true to the sentiments of the book and ...
...success is also supported by the mega star cast which includes Brad Pitt, Robert De Niro, Kevin Bacon, Minnie Driver, Jason Patric and a quite excellent performance from Dustin Hoffman. The Storyline The film opens in the summer of 1966 and focuses on four young boys growing up in the Hells Kitchen of New York. Narrated by the adult voice of one of the boys, Shakes, a picture is painted of a poor working class area of Manhattan made up of immigrant ... Read review

Advantages: Great cast, great script and a moving story.
Disadvantages: That it ever happened.

...I LOVE this film. Sleepers is a dark movie based on the book of the same name. Written by Lorenzo Carcaterra, it is the story of his life growing up in Hell's Kitchen, a violent and disturbing neighbourhood in New York. The story centres around Carcaterra and his three best friends, Michael, John and Tommy and the event that changed their lives forever. In the summer of 1967 the four boys were involved in a tragic accident after a prank they pulled ...
...a year and eighteen months in Wilkinson's Home For Boys, basically a correctional facility for young offenders. All the sets in the film are picked to perfection, from the hot sweaty streets of Hell's Kitchen to the imposing structure that is Wilkinson's, the location's all add to the brooding atmosphere of the film. Here the boys are systematically beaten and abused, particularly by one sadistic guard by the name of Nokes. The boys go in as basically ... Read review

Advantages: A compelling story of violence, abuse, revenge and above all, friendship
Disadvantages: A harrowing story, definitely not light viewing

Sleepers is a chilling story, and one that is made all the more powerful simply because everything in it is based on real events. It is the story of four young friends who live in the Hell’s Kitchen area of Manhattan, a tough area full of tough men, run by a respected gangster known as King Benny, and populated by a mix of immigrant families from all over Europe. The boys – Shakes, Tommy, John and Mikey – spend their summer days ...
...the roof of their apartment block, while Shakes tries to avoid his father’s violent outbursts and seems to spend much of time comforting his beaten mother. Much of his free time was spent in the company of the genial Father Bobby (played superbly by Robert De Niro) at the local church – Shakes and John often worked there as altar boys, and even entertained thoughts of entering the priesthood, but soon enough such thoughts were driven ... Read review