"Sleepers" has all the makings of one of those big, door-stoppers of a best-selling novel, which indeed it was, an epic of the streets covering a number of years and apparently based on 'truth'. The writer and director was Barry Levinson, no Scorsese but a maker of reasonably intelligent pictures nevertheless. Levinson's strength was spinning narratives and this one has perhaps too much narrative, too many characters, too much plot, enough indeed for a mini-series but very little depth.
It's also got one of those all-star casts that movies like this invariably have to have with Robert DeNiro as a tough-talking priest, Dustin Hoffman as a shady lawyer and Jason Patric, Brad Pitt, Billy Crudup and Ron Eldard as the adult versions of the kids we meet at the beginning while Kevin Bacon and particularly Terry Kinney are outstanding as sadistic prison guards and it's very well photographed by the great Michael Ballhaus but it's also morally suspect, very far-fetched and ultimately leaves a very bad taste in the mouth. For all its obvious skills it's neither a pleasant film to watch or indeed believe in and it certainly could do with some pruning.
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