Sleepers

Name: Sleepers
Genre: Drama, Thriller, Crime
Released: October 18, 1996
Duration: 147 min
Rating: 49
Cast: Brad Pitt, Jason Patric, Kevin Bacon, Robert De Niro

1996

METASCORE

Mixed or average reviews based on 18 Critic Reviews

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USER SCORE

Universal acclaim based on 151 Ratings

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8.1	User Score Universal acclaim based on 151 Ratings

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Sleepers

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Movie Details & Credits

Warner Bros. Pictures | Release Date: October 18, 1996 | R

Starring: Brad Pitt, Jason Patric, Kevin Bacon, Robert De Niro

Summary: When a Hell's kitchen prank goes awry, a group of boys are sent to a reform institution, where they experience brutal sexual assaults by the sadistic "caretakers." Many years later, a pair of the now-grown victims encounter their chief tormenter and plot to exact revenge.

Director: Barry Levinson

Genre(s): Drama, Thriller, Crime

Rating: R

Runtime: 147 min

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Metascore

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Critic Reviews

David Stratton

Colorful characters, richly evoked settings, epic story of friendship, crime and punishment, and a strong dose of good old-fashioned star power. Read full review

Peter Travers

Sleepers, for all the doubts it raises, is the work of a man who speaks for absent friends and "for the children we were." It's his secret heart. Read full review

Mike Clark

Engrosses if it doesn't fully convince. [18 October 1996, p.1D]

John Krewson

Muddy, confused, and worst of all boring, Sleepers grinds to the preordained halt shared by any over-budgeted epic that lacks the simple necessity of good story. Read full review

Steve Davis

Somewhat byzantine in execution and confusing in its logic, the film's second half never achieves the catharsis you'd expect. Read full review

TV Guide Magazine Staff (Not credited)

The dullest movie ever made about child abuse, conspiracy and murder. Read full review

David Ansen

Rent the devastating "The Boys of St. Vincent" to see how slick and hollow Sleepers is, how little it reveals about the real nature and effect of child abuse. [28 October 1996, p. 74]

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User Reviews

gracjanski

Apr 4, 2022

This movie was so sad, I felt so sorry, what happened to the 4 boys. So yes, the movie was well made: thats the function of a movie: take you into another world. In addition there are many top actors, who played brilliantly of course.

0 of 0 users found this helpful00

mrmadrid

Apr 15, 2012

This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. With a quite unforgiving Metacritic score, this one is worth a second look. Kevin Bacon exhibits his range by playing a repulsive, utterly hateful villain. Truly memorable. Personally, the satisfaction one feels when he gets what's coming to him makes the movie worthwhile, in what is an eerily realistic and well-acted scene of rightous revenge that reminded me of the famous scene in the Godfather when Michael kills the police chief and mob don at the Italian restaurant. The recreation of Hell's Kitchen, New York in the 60s, the social types, daily life, the presence of the Mafia, the lives of the kids there, is very convincing and lavish, really well-done. Sure, itÂ´s conventional and a bit dumb in parts, but the depiction of the era, some great performances make it mesmerizing at times. The users kinder score here is fairer.… Expand

1 of 1 users found this helpful10

DogeGamer2015

Jul 11, 2020

Es una película bastante triste y deprimente, pero también emocional y profunda.

1 of 1 users found this helpful10

avatar16

Jan 20, 2012

Le rÃ©alisateur de Rain Man au service d'un nouveau chef-d'oeuvre! Oui, Sleepers est un chef-d'oeuvre! Un grand film qui parle d'un sujet dur et violent (abus sexuels dans les maisons de redressements) non pas de maniÃ¨re excessivement dramatique mais deLe rÃ©alisateur de Rain Man au service d'un nouveau chef-d'oeuvre! Oui, Sleepers est un chef-d'oeuvre! Un grand film qui parle d'un sujet dur et violent (abus sexuels dans les maisons de redressements) non pas de maniÃ¨re excessivement dramatique mais de faÃ§on incroyablement sobre. Il n'y a qu'Ã voir la (longue) intro qui prÃ©sente les quatre hÃ©ros, leurs connaissances, leur quartier, dans la bonne humeur. Puis tout vire dans une ambiance plus sombre, le film dÃ©voilant sa puissance. Mise en scÃ¨ne, musique, scÃ©nario, casting... Tout dans Sleepers est de qualitÃ© pour livrer aux cinÃ©philes un superbe produit du septiÃ¨me art. Et puis, rien que voir de grands acteurs dans des seconds rÃ´les juteux et inattendus (Robert De Niro en curÃ©, Dustin Hoffman en avocat alcoolique, Kevin Bacon en gardien de prison inhumain...), cela vaut largement le coup d'oeil !… Expand

0 of 0 users found this helpful00

DawdlingPoet

Nov 21, 2021

This is a crime thriller film, featuring themes including abuse, humiliation and revenge. This film features a surprisingly large amount of background character information, with the plot being slowly revealed. The film is quite long at just under 2 and a half hours and its a sobering watch,This is a crime thriller film, featuring themes including abuse, humiliation and revenge. This film features a surprisingly large amount of background character information, with the plot being slowly revealed. The film is quite long at just under 2 and a half hours and its a sobering watch, with some distressing scenes of blatant child abuse, including sexual child abuse. I found myself feeling quite sorry for the main characters, the 4 boys, for many reasons, most obviously for being victims, victims of more than one type - victims of their adolescence, as well as their abuse. Their depicted very much as being young and scared but trying their utmost not to show it, for fear of obvious repercussions while incarcerated.

The film features some relatively jerky camerawork - there are flashback type scenes depicted in which the one visible colour is a very light blue, giving it a spooky, eerie effect. The camerawork gives the viewer a sense that what their seeing is coming from someones dreamlike recollections and is not entirely a depiction of what happened when...there's an emotional element to it, although the lack of colour also perhaps points to a sombre side as well.

Music wise, there are a number of classic 60s pop tunes played in the first part of the film, including 'Walk Like A Man' by Frankie Valli and The Four Seasons, Gimme Some Lovin' by Spencer Davis and 'Hurdy Gurdy Man' by Donovan. Aside from the 60s tunes are songs such as 'Tainted Love (Where Did Our Love Go) by Soft Cell'. A full list of the songs featured in the film can be found on IMDB.com of course. Generally speaking the tracks are surprisingly upbeat, certainly at the start of the film in any case, which clashes with the obviously rather dark and sombre tone of the film later on, as the plot develops. Cast wise, Billy Crudup plays Tommy, while Ron Eldard plays John and Brad Renfro plays young Michael, with Jason Patric playing Shakes as an adult and Joe Perrino playing him as an adolescent. They all give very good performances, showing their fear and vulnerability, while also giving an air of bravado. Also present are Robert De Niro, who plays the local priest that the boys grow up knowing, Father Bobby, who also visits them while their serving their sentence in juvenile. Meanwhile, Dustin Hoffman plays the lawyer Danny Snyder, who is less than happy to take on the case the boys propose. He is quite a quiet and unsuspecting sort of a person, which made me surprised that he would happen to be a lawyer, someone you expect to be (especially in America) very extroverted and a bit of a show off at the least. Also present, cast wise, are Brad Pitt, who plays Michael as an adult and Minnie Driver, who plays Carol, Mikey's partner.

Oh and then there's Kevin Bacon, who plays one of the key characters in the film - in this case, one of the detention officers, Nokes. He is really quite chilling in his depiction of a clearly evil man, who abuses his authority in shocking ways. I'd say his performance, along with that of Robert De Niro, their both the most stand out performances, or were to me in any case. One thing I did notice was that De Niro (obviously) didn't seem to age between scenes in which he's the priest during the boys young adolescence and scenes multiple years later but that is perhaps a bit of a 'nit pick' point and I wouldn't say it exactly ruins the believability of plot overall or the film in general, of course.

Unsurprisingly, the film is quite tough viewing and features a lot of disturbing and potentially upsetting and sobering content. For a start, there is some partial nudity and various sex references, although no explicit sex scenes shown as such (no doubt just as well, given the context). There are some instances of violence, which are between (I'd say) mild to moderate and includes gunfire related violence, including bloody injuries which are depicted on different people. The film features characters who talk about their drug and drink addictions/issues, although there are no scenes depicting drug use. The film was originally given a 15 rating but that was changed to an 18 rating when the film was released on video and, later, DVD and Blu-Ray. It dates from 1996, for the record.

Also, as an aside, apparently the term 'sleepers' refers to people who have been in juvenile detention centres, hence the title of the film. It wasn't a term I was aware of but it made sense once I heard that, so I thought I'd mention that, to clear up the reason why the film is called what it is. Plus, at the very end there is (as is present in some films) an explanation of what happened to various characters after the time depicted in the plot, which leads me to believe that its based on a true story, making it all the more sombre and sobering.

Yes, I thought that this was a relatively well made film. It covers some tough issues and it won't suit everyone but it has good characterisation and a decent plot.… Expand

0 of 0 users found this helpful00

miguevindiano

Apr 27, 2021

I just can't resist to 90's movies vibes. In the beginning, you don't really see where is the movie going to head. Then, you start thinking about something horrible trying to guess the story, and it happens. Really liked how each character had its way to solve the problem.

0 of 0 users found this helpful00

mohamad91hk

May 19, 2020

This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. Nice movie and heart breaking story. Briefly, the first half of film talk about four boys (friends) were abused by prison guards and the second half show you the boys after 13 years (became an adults) how they will revenge.

Actually, I connect with the first half more (boys part), on the second half i didn't feel they are same characters. I think if the film start with adult part and show what happened to them as a flashback, it will be better.

There is something confused also, why they didn't tell anyone what is happening with them when there were boys, i know they felt shame, but rationally they could tell the priest when he was visiting them or their family, they could tell them since the abuse started. Also why they took 13 years to revenge, it looks like revenge by coincidence!!

Anyway, the film is nice and watchable, it could be better but no matter now.… Expand

0 of 0 users found this helpful00

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34	#34 Most Discussed Movie of 1996
16	#16 Most Shared Movie of 1996