Sleepers on 4K review by Bobby Blakey
Director Barry Levinson has had an impressive career with some truly great films including Rain Man, Toys, Good Morning Vietnam, and so many more. In 1996 he brought together yet another impressive cast including Kevin Bacon, Robert DeNiro, Dustin Hoffman, Jason Patric, Brad Pitt, Jonathan Tucker, Joe Perrino, Geoffrey Wigdor, and the late Brad Renfro for the film Sleepers based on the book by Lorenzo Carcaterra. Does this crime thriller hold up under its loaded cast, or will it fail to expose the truth?
Sleepers follows four ordinary boys and a harmless prank gone awry. Sentenced to spend time at a reform school for their reckless behavior, four basically good boys from a bad neighborhood suffer a horrible fate while there. Forced to perform unspeakable acts by the very adults entrusted to watch over them, the young quartet barely survives the ordeal. A decade and a half later, nothing can erase the painful memories. But neighborhood justice, with a little support from a loyal priest, helps even the score.
I haven’t seen this movie since it came out in 1996 so getting to revisit was a treat in as much as it can be with this kind of film. The layered story is essentially multiple stories at once with the first being the young friends growing up in Hell’s Kitchen before getting put away into a reform school facing horrible abuse. The film time jumps to the adult versions of them which shifts the focus to not only a revenge film but also a courtroom drama with perfect balance.
The adult cast are no doubt fantastic, but for me it was the young cast that truly
shined. They carried the heaviest burden of having to deal with so many emotions, fears and evil that had to be heavy on them both in performance and real life. They are all great and no wonder that some of them went on to bigger things to this day except for the untimely death of Brad Renfro. DeNiro is so great in a smaller role as the priest that is always there for them and even though he is a good guy this time around still has the imposing presence in his performance. Kevin Bacon is also a standout in a completely different type of role. Instead of the likable character fans usually know him for he is the worst and lead evil to what these boys go through and its both excellent and revolting all at once.
The film deals with horrible subject matter and some hard to watch things but also showcases them in a way that is not graphic yet still impactful. The twists and turns to the case that should have been a slam-dunk conviction makes for the mystery of how they are going to get it all to the finish line and the true evil get the punishment they deserve. The ending is satisfying but also keeps some realism to it about the life some of these guys lead so it’s not all happy, but proper to the story that is based on.
If you have never seen this film, it is worth checking out and what better time with it available now on 4K for the first time ever from Warner Bros Home Entertainment.