Sleepers
Warner Bros. Pictures | Release Date: October 18, 1996 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
49
METASCORE
Mixed or average reviews based on 18 Critic Reviews
Positive:
9
Mixed:
3
Negative:
6
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
90
VarietyDavid 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
88
ReelViewsJames Berardinelli
Two and one- half hours of gripping entertainment. Read full review
88
Rolling StonePeter 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
80
TimeRichard Schickel
At some low, what's-next level, Sleepers works like, well, gangbusters. [28 October 1996, p. 113]
75
USA TodayMike Clark
Engrosses if it doesn't fully convince. [18 October 1996, p.1D]
75
Chicago Sun-TimesRoger Ebert
As entertainment, the movie functions successfully. But I don't believe the story is true--not true to the facts, and not true to the morality it pretends to be about. Read full review
75
San Francisco ChroniclePeter Stack
A visual masterpiece that powerfully explores male cruelty, too. Read full review
75
San Francisco ExaminerBarbara Shulgasser
Sometimes the movie lacks a quietness, an omission most egregiously felt at the end. Read full review
70
Washington PostKevin McManus
It features a pleasing mix of good-guy gumshoeing, smart-alecky dialogue and courtroom surprises. Read full review
50
The A.V. ClubJohn 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
50
Entertainment WeeklyOwen Gleiberman
By the end, the main thing that's been abused is the audience's intelligence. Read full review
40
Austin ChronicleSteve 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
30
Washington PostRita Kempley
Recalls those corny Warner Bros. movies about Dead End Kids. Read full review
30
TV Guide MagazineStaff (Not credited)
The dullest movie ever made about child abuse, conspiracy and murder. Read full review
30
Los Angeles TimesKenneth Turan
The film's tone works overtime at mythologizing tawdry incidents into some ultimate epic about the lost innocence of youth. Gilded trash is more like it. Read full review
30
The New York TimesJanet Maslin
As directed by Barry Levinson and acted by an incredible collection of male stars, Sleepers settles the authenticity question by allowing not a whiff of real life into its universe. Read full review
25
Christian Science MonitorDavid Sterritt
Barry Levinson's filmmaking style is often imaginative. The story contains horrific scenes of sexual torture as well as sadistic killings and other disturbing material, though. Read full review
10
NewsweekDavid 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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