Sleepers
Director: Barry Levinson
Cast: Jason Patric, Brad Pitt, Robert De Niro, Vittorio Gassman, James Pickens Jr., Wendell Pierce, Frank Medrano, Kevin Bacon, Dustin Hoffman, Eugene Byrd, Brad Renfro, Minnie Driver, Billy Crudup, Joseph Perrino, Bruno Kirby
Based on the book by Lorenzo Carcaterra, Sleepers tells the story of four boys, and how their lives growing up in Hell’s Kitchen will be shaped and transformed, growing up on the unforgiving streets of Hell’s Kitchen, where honor is paramount, and disrespect not tolerated. In the wake of a tragic accident, four young boys are sent to the Wilkinson Home for Boys, a juvenile prison in upstate New York. Although the boys are thrown into the darkest chasms of hell, and left at the mercy of the brutal guards, the bonds of brotherhood forged between them, and their strong relationship with a caring Catholic priest, are what help them survive the evil which enshrouds them. Years later, the four friends have diverged in their paths, but the bond that was forged between them in childhood ignites their quest for revenge against the evil which sought to destroy them.
Honor plays a powerful role in this film, and nowhere is honor more perfectly illustrated than in the four boys whose traumatic past were shaped by two groups of men- one who filled the father role in their young lives and protected them and the other who were monsters, who lurked in the shadows and sought to destroy them.
Honor is also shown in the men of Hell’s Kitchen and the way their acts of honor made a difference in the lives of Shakes and his friends. The bond between Father Bobby and Shakes is built on honor. When Shakes is sent to the Wilkinson Home for Boys, as punishment for a crime, he asks Father Bobby to watch over his parents, and to promise Shakes that no matter what he hears, he will not share any bad news with his parents. Shakes tells Father Bobby that it’s a good lie and considering the horrible secret truth that Father Bobby knows in this moment…because he had also been imprisoned in the Wilkinson Home, and he knew the malevolent horrors these children would endure inside of that prison…so it was truly a good lie to tell. Father Bobby’s second honorable deed comes when Shakes asks Father Bobby, as a priest, and as their friend, to compromise his faith and willingly lie to protect John and Tommy from being convicted of murder.
King Benny is also an honorable man. Despite being a brutal and unforgiving killer and mob boss, King Benny is also a man of honor, and he genuinely cares about young Shakes, and makes it a point to watch over him. His honor is shown, when he helps Shakes take down the Wilkinson guards in court and hold them accountable for the vile and gruesome things they did to these children. He also tells Shakes not to let revenge and hatred change his good heart. He joins the shakedown to protect John and Tommy and enact their revenge on the Wilkinson guards for the crimes they committed. King Benny’s greatest moment of honor comes when he visits Rizzo’s older brother, Little Caesar, to ask for a favor, but it is only after hearing that the man who owes the money is Henry Addison, who was a guard at Wilkinson at the same time as Rizzo, that Little Caesar agrees to this odd request. King Benny’s honor and class is shown, when he tells Little Caesar that the man who owes the money is also the guard who owes Little Caesar, his brother, Rizzo…because Henry Addison was the man responsible for Rizzo’s death, while Rizzo was imprisoned at the Wilkinson home, and the guards lied to him about how his brother had died, while in their prison.
While most of the guards inflicting nothing but humiliation and cruelty towards the boys, in the year they were imprisoned in the Wilkinson Home for Boys, there were two men in that horrible place who were good and honorable man. When the boys are attacked by a bully in the lunchroom, Sean Nokes, the leader of the guards, forces the boys to eat the food off the floor. Another guard named Marlboro intervenes, and his honor is shown when he forces Noakes to leave the boys alone. When Shakes is in English class, his teacher speaks to Shakes after class and tells Shakes how impressive his book report was.
Revenge is a powerful theme in this film, and it is expressed in three different perspectives of revenge which were elicited in the second half of the movie: retribution, redemption, and good, old-fashioned revenge.
In John and Tommy’s case, a chance encounter with their dark nemesis, Sean Noakes (Kevin Bacon) presents them with the opportunity for retribution. The two hardened men were enacting their long-awaited revenge on Sean Noakes, for the physical and emotional suffering that he inflicted on them, when they were children. For the other two boys, Michael, and Shakes, the aftermath of John and Tommy’s retribution to Noakes grants them the opportunity to throw into motion their own agenda – revenge. Michael uses the opportunity that was provided by John and Tommy murdering Sean Noakes to manipulate a corrupt system of justice and bring to light the darkness that the four friends endured at the Wilkinson Home for Boys, and ultimately put to rest the excruciating secret which has haunted all of them since they were children.
Father Bobby (Robert De Niro), the caring, Catholic priest who plays the role of surrogate father and protector to the four protagonists, has the hardest choice to make – at what point does protecting the people you love supersede the very essence of what you believe in? Father Bobby is faced with a heartbreaking dilemma when he, as a priest, is asked to lie before God and the court to save John and Tommy after they are charged with murdering Sean Noakes. His choice to protect John and Tommy, and bring to light the darkness at the Wilkinson Home for Boys, allows Father Bobby to give his surrogate sons the redemption they so desperately yearn for.
One of the main things that resonates deeply in the movie “Sleepers” is the fact that corrupt justice can destroy the innocence of childhood; replacing it with a pain which is embedded so deeply, that the lives which were corrupted can never again find true peace. On the other hand, justice steeped in love and honorable revenge can give the corrupted soul a soft impression of peace; even if the peace they find in honorable revenge is not meant to last forever.
© 2022 Keriane Kellogg. All rights reserved.
Director: Barry Levinson
Cast: Jason Patric, Brad Pitt, Robert De Niro, Vittorio Gassman, James Pickens Jr., Wendell Pierce, Frank Medrano, Kevin Bacon, Dustin Hoffman, Eugene Byrd, Brad Renfro, Minnie Driver, Billy Crudup, Joseph Perrino, Bruno Kirby
Based on the book by Lorenzo Carcaterra, Sleepers tells the story of four boys, and how their lives growing up in Hell’s Kitchen will be shaped and transformed, growing up on the unforgiving streets of Hell’s Kitchen, where honor is paramount, and disrespect not tolerated. In the wake of a tragic accident, four young boys are sent to the Wilkinson Home for Boys, a juvenile prison in upstate New York. Although the boys are thrown into the darkest chasms of hell, and left at the mercy of the brutal guards, the bonds of brotherhood forged between them, and their strong relationship with a caring Catholic priest, are what help them survive the evil which enshrouds them. Years later, the four friends have diverged in their paths, but the bond that was forged between them in childhood ignites their quest for revenge against the evil which sought to destroy them.
Honor plays a powerful role in this film, and nowhere is honor more perfectly illustrated than in the four boys whose traumatic past were shaped by two groups of men- one who filled the father role in their young lives and protected them and the other who were monsters, who lurked in the shadows and sought to destroy them.
Honor is also shown in the men of Hell’s Kitchen and the way their acts of honor made a difference in the lives of Shakes and his friends. The bond between Father Bobby and Shakes is built on honor. When Shakes is sent to the Wilkinson Home for Boys, as punishment for a crime, he asks Father Bobby to watch over his parents, and to promise Shakes that no matter what he hears, he will not share any bad news with his parents. Shakes tells Father Bobby that it’s a good lie and considering the horrible secret truth that Father Bobby knows in this moment…because he had also been imprisoned in the Wilkinson Home, and he knew the malevolent horrors these children would endure inside of that prison…so it was truly a good lie to tell. Father Bobby’s second honorable deed comes when Shakes asks Father Bobby, as a priest, and as their friend, to compromise his faith and willingly lie to protect John and Tommy from being convicted of murder.
King Benny is also an honorable man. Despite being a brutal and unforgiving killer and mob boss, King Benny is also a man of honor, and he genuinely cares about young Shakes, and makes it a point to watch over him. His honor is shown, when he helps Shakes take down the Wilkinson guards in court and hold them accountable for the vile and gruesome things they did to these children. He also tells Shakes not to let revenge and hatred change his good heart. He joins the shakedown to protect John and Tommy and enact their revenge on the Wilkinson guards for the crimes they committed. King Benny’s greatest moment of honor comes when he visits Rizzo’s older brother, Little Caesar, to ask for a favor, but it is only after hearing that the man who owes the money is Henry Addison, who was a guard at Wilkinson at the same time as Rizzo, that Little Caesar agrees to this odd request. King Benny’s honor and class is shown, when he tells Little Caesar that the man who owes the money is also the guard who owes Little Caesar, his brother, Rizzo…because Henry Addison was the man responsible for Rizzo’s death, while Rizzo was imprisoned at the Wilkinson home, and the guards lied to him about how his brother had died, while in their prison.
While most of the guards inflicting nothing but humiliation and cruelty towards the boys, in the year they were imprisoned in the Wilkinson Home for Boys, there were two men in that horrible place who were good and honorable man. When the boys are attacked by a bully in the lunchroom, Sean Nokes, the leader of the guards, forces the boys to eat the food off the floor. Another guard named Marlboro intervenes, and his honor is shown when he forces Noakes to leave the boys alone. When Shakes is in English class, his teacher speaks to Shakes after class and tells Shakes how impressive his book report was.
Revenge is a powerful theme in this film, and it is expressed in three different perspectives of revenge which were elicited in the second half of the movie: retribution, redemption, and good, old-fashioned revenge.
In John and Tommy’s case, a chance encounter with their dark nemesis, Sean Noakes (Kevin Bacon) presents them with the opportunity for retribution. The two hardened men were enacting their long-awaited revenge on Sean Noakes, for the physical and emotional suffering that he inflicted on them, when they were children. For the other two boys, Michael, and Shakes, the aftermath of John and Tommy’s retribution to Noakes grants them the opportunity to throw into motion their own agenda – revenge. Michael uses the opportunity that was provided by John and Tommy murdering Sean Noakes to manipulate a corrupt system of justice and bring to light the darkness that the four friends endured at the Wilkinson Home for Boys, and ultimately put to rest the excruciating secret which has haunted all of them since they were children.
Father Bobby (Robert De Niro), the caring, Catholic priest who plays the role of surrogate father and protector to the four protagonists, has the hardest choice to make – at what point does protecting the people you love supersede the very essence of what you believe in? Father Bobby is faced with a heartbreaking dilemma when he, as a priest, is asked to lie before God and the court to save John and Tommy after they are charged with murdering Sean Noakes. His choice to protect John and Tommy, and bring to light the darkness at the Wilkinson Home for Boys, allows Father Bobby to give his surrogate sons the redemption they so desperately yearn for.
One of the main things that resonates deeply in the movie “Sleepers” is the fact that corrupt justice can destroy the innocence of childhood; replacing it with a pain which is embedded so deeply, that the lives which were corrupted can never again find true peace. On the other hand, justice steeped in love and honorable revenge can give the corrupted soul a soft impression of peace; even if the peace they find in honorable revenge is not meant to last forever.
© 2022 Keriane Kellogg. All rights reserved.