SLEEPERS
A film review by August Lamczyk
Copyright 1996 August Lamczyk
This is a very difficult film to watch. I am not a paid critic but have always loved the movies so feel able to throw in my two cents on the film. I believe it is a good thing that Sleepers would come out in an election year. >From the very begining there are several references to poverty and justice, to mean streets, and living among the torment, and the possibility that one can survive and even enjoy ones environment thanks to friendship and the salvation of God.
As you watch this film you begin to see it more then a story of four boys growing up in Hell's Kitchen. We all make choices in life and most of the time they are mistakes. But Sleepers takes those mistakes and enhances them to be almost unbearably costly. The four boys make such a mistake and are carted off to a children's home. The gaurds often molest, rape and torture the boys. These scenes are difficult to endure. But I believe they are necessary to take the viewer into the minds of the boys and the guards.
Later the movie transcends the viewers to 1981 and a freek occurance that puts two of the victims as excecutioners of the chief evil guard (played well by Kevin Bacon). A trial is set with the prosecuting attorney (Brad Pitt) purposely throwing the trial. Pitt was also one of the boys as well as a newspaper reporter who also assits him at throwing the trial and exposing the guards.
It is a stretch that things go soo smoothly, and this is my only fault with the film. At the heart is the need for justice. I disagree that it is revenge. Revenge is beaten into the viewer's head that this is what is needed for the victims. It is vigilanty justice implementing the justice system. So it is a severely flawed film in a moral sense? The answer does not come easy, and I believe this is the film's strength. It is a question that each viewer must answer. No amount of of ideology can prepare one for this film. It is a personal answer, and only we know it.
P.S. - I appreciate the chance to express my views rather quickly here. I also wish to hear feedback on this review.
Thanks
Gus Lamczyk
The review above was posted to the
rec.arts.movies.reviews newsgroup (de.rec.film.kritiken for German reviews).
The Internet Movie Database accepts no responsibility for the contents of the
review and has no editorial control. Unless stated otherwise, the copyright
belongs to the author.
Please direct comments/criticisms of the review to relevant newsgroups.
Broken URLs inthe reviews are the responsibility of the author.
The formatting of the review is likely to differ from the original due
to ASCII to HTML conversion.
Related links: index of all rec.arts.movies.reviews reviews