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Sleepers (1996)

tomatometer

80

Average Rating: 7/10
Critic Reviews: 10
Fresh: 8 | Rotten: 2

No consensus yet.

audience

81

liked it
Average Rating: 3.6/5
User Ratings: 87,628

My Rating

Movie Info

Barry Levinson directed this crime drama based on a controversial bestseller. Jason Patrick stars as Lorenzo, a New York reporter more commonly called "Shakes," a nickname courtesy of his three childhood pals from Hell's Kitchen -- Michael (Brad Pitt), John (Ron Eldard), and Tommy (Billy Crudup). As kids, all four were sent to reform school after accidentally killing someone during a cruel prank. There, the boys were raped and beaten by several guards, including Sean Nokes (Kevin Bacon), a fact

R, 2 hr. 27 min.

Mystery & Suspense, Drama

Barry Levinson

Sep 25, 1997

Warner Bros. Pictures

Cast

All Critics (53) | Top Critics (10) | Fresh (40) | Rotten (14) | DVD (4)

It is all legally preposterous. But Levinson is a slick craftsman, his actors are insinuatingly real, and cinematographer Michael Ballhaus casts a disarmingly believable light on these proceedings.

August 14, 2009 Full Review Source: TIME Magazine | Comment
TIME Magazine
Top Critic IconTop Critic

If audiences aren't bothered by this disturbing subtext, there's a lot to enjoy in this impeccably structured, handsomely produced saga.

June 24, 2008 Full Review Source: Variety | Comment
Variety
Top Critic IconTop Critic

At times the images are agonizing to behold, men in their most desperate, hateful depths preying on children. The film, exceptional on many counts, ultimately is sad in a hopeless, haunting way.

June 18, 2002 Full Review Source: San Francisco Chronicle | Comment
San Francisco Chronicle
Top Critic IconTop Critic

Idealized? You bet. That's why the loss of this world must be avenged with the same broad strokes that you'd expect from the Count of Monte Cristo.

May 12, 2001 Comment
Rolling Stone
Top Critic IconTop Critic

In craft terms alone, Sleepers is considerably better than average filmmaking, but it's difficult to take this film as seriously as it takes itself.

February 14, 2001 Full Review Source: Los Angeles Times | Comment
Los Angeles Times
Top Critic IconTop Critic

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.

January 1, 2000 Full Review Source: Chicago Sun-Times | Comment
Chicago Sun-Times
Top Critic IconTop Critic

Tense and gripping, with first-rate acting, but coincidences, hyperbole, and improbability, too. (Blu-ray edition)

August 16, 2011 Full Review Source: Movie Metropolis | Comment
Movie Metropolis

...it's more than a bit disconcerting to see how the narrative makes serious wrongdoers sympathetic. Therefore, a qualified success.

August 16, 2011 Full Review Source: Movie Metropolis | Comment
Movie Metropolis

Despite it all, just try to take your eyes off this movie: skillfully crafted by Levinson, Sleepers is eminently watchable, deeply emotional, and populated with top acting talent. [Blu-ray]

August 2, 2011 Full Review Source: Groucho Reviews | Comment

Powerful story of child abuse. Not for kids.

January 1, 2011 Full Review Source: Common Sense Media | Comment
Common Sense Media

Boasting a glorious multi-generational cast (De Niro, Hoffman, Brad Pitt, Jason Patric), Levinson's tale of sexual abuse and revenge is just decent, lacking dramatic energy and relying too much on voice-over narration and conventional courtroom procedures

August 23, 2009 Full Review Source: EmanuelLevy.Com | Comment

Disturbing, but compelling and provocative.

August 14, 2009 Full Review Source: Film4 | Comment

One thing you will not being doing after seeing this dark, yet beautifully written film, is sleeping.

August 2, 2008 Comment
BDK Reviews

Levinson has done nothing to sift the half-truths from the melodrama...

February 9, 2006 Full Review Source: Time Out | Comment

Disturbing and powerful

January 20, 2006 Comment
Lawrence Journal-World

Brad Pitt and Jason Patric are, sorry to say, far overshadowed by their more mature colleagues. Neither has any real presence, in my mind, especially Pitt, whose star power is far greater than his acting ability.

April 9, 2005 Full Review Source: Reeling Reviews | Comment
Reeling Reviews
More Critic Reviews

Audience Reviews for Sleepers

Lorenzo: There are no clear pictures of the sexual abuse we endured. I buried it as deep as it can possibly go. "When friendship runs deeper than blood"There is only one way to describe Sleepers and that is that it is a great movie. It comes with flaws, which I won't discuss as they are very apparent and because I just

August 10, 2011
blkbomb
Melvin White

Super Reviewer

Emotionally overwhelming drama about four kids whose life is thrown off track during their visit to a reform school, where they are abused and tortured. The movie sets up the situation of the boys in the late 60s really well, with the right soundtrack and the foreshadowing voice-over, that's not without pathos. Once

July 10, 2007
ironclad1609

Super Reviewer

    1. Lorenzo a.k.a. Shakes: [narrating about Father Bobby] I told him about the torture, the beating and the rapes. I told him about four frightened boys who prayed to Father Bobbys God for help that never came. I told him everything.
    – Submitted by Sandra R (7 months ago)
    1. Carol: Mug me or marry me, Shakes. I'm too tired for anything else.
    – Submitted by Chris P (9 months ago)
    1. Carol: The man I know is not the boy you remember.
    2. Lorenzo a.k.a. Shakes: None of us are.
    – Submitted by Chris P (9 months ago)

Latest News for Sleepers

August 16, 2006:
Character Actor Bruno Kirby, Dead at 57
You'd immediately recognize the face (and the voice) from movies like "City Slickers,"...

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