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Stars indicate the most critically-acclaimed movies.
67
$9.99
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66
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Beaches of Agnes, The
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Brothers Bloom, The
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Burma VJ: Reporting from a Closed Country
xx
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Cheri
62
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18
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58
Easy Virtue
70
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Every Little Step
64
Examined Life
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38
Gigantic
56
Girl from Monaco, The
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Girlfriend Experience, The
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89
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Seraphine
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Shall We Kiss?
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Sin Nombre
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Song of Sparrows, The
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60
Under Our Skin
69
Unmistaken Child
69
Valentino: The Last Emperor
22
What Goes Up
45
Whatever Works
57
Youssou Ndour: I Bring What I Love
91
Hurt Locker, The
89
Goodbye Solo
88
Tulpan
87
Gomorrah
86
Seraphine
84
Summer Hours
83
U2 3D
83
Revanche
83
Tyson
82
Burma VJ: Reporting from a Closed Country
82
Sugar
82
Hunger
82
Anvil! The Story of Anvil
81
Il Divo
81
Beaches of Agnes, The
80
Food, Inc.
80
Tokyo Sonata
79
Harvard Beats Yale 29-29
78
Boys: The Sherman Brothers' Story, The
78
O'Horten
77
Every Little Step
77
Sin Nombre
75
24 City
74
Treeless Mountain
74
Afghan Star
74
Two Lovers
74
Song of Sparrows, The
74
Lemon Tree
71
Pressure Cooker
71
Jerichow
70
Shall We Kiss?
70
Tony Manero
70
End of the Line, The
69
Valentino: The Last Emperor
69
Unmistaken Child
67
$9.99
67
Rudo y Cursi
67
Girlfriend Experience, The
66
Adoration
66
Moon
65
Sex Positive
65
Departures
64
Outrage
64
Examined Life
64
Throw Down Your Heart
64
Lymelife
63
Tokyo!
63
Cheri
63
Dead Snow
63
Tetro
63
Great Buck Howard, The
62
Cherry Blossoms
62
Big Man Japan
62
Not Forgotten
61
Sunshine Cleaning
60
Under Our Skin
59
Sleep Dealer
58
Julia
58
Easy Virtue
57
Away We Go
57
Merry Gentleman, The
57
Youssou Ndour: I Bring What I Love
56
Girl from Monaco, The
56
American Violet
55
Brothers Bloom, The
54
Is Anybody There?
54
Pontypool
54
Stoning of Soraya M., The
52
Quiet Chaos
50
Management
48
Alien Trespass
45
Whatever Works
42
Little Ashes
42
Tennessee
40
Limits of Control, The
40
Paris 36
38
Gigantic
36
Life is Hot in Cracktown
35
New York
28
Big Shot-Caller, The
28
Surveillance
22
What Goes Up
18
Downloading Nancy
16
I Hate Valentine's Day
xx
Call of the Wild
xx
Home
xx
Offshore
Stars indicate the most critically-acclaimed movies.
|
Sleepers
Warner Bros.
FILM:
MPAA RATING: R for language, graphic violence and two scenes of strong sexual content
Starring
Kevin Bacon,
Billy Crudup,
Robert De Niro,
Ron Eldard,
Minnie Driver,
Jason Patric,
Dustin Hoffman,
and
Brad Pitt
When a Hell's kitchen prank goes awry, a group of boys are sent to a reform institution, where they experience brutal sexual assaults by the sadistic "caretakers." Many years later, a pair of the now-grown victims encounter their chief tormenter and plot to exact revenge.
| GENRE(S): |
Crime
|
Drama
|
Suspense/Thriller
|
| WRITTEN BY: |
Lorenzo Carcaterra (book)
Barry Levinson
|
| DIRECTED BY: |
Barry Levinson
|
| RELEASE DATE: |
DVD: August 22, 1997
Video: April 1, 1997
Theatrical: October 18, 1996
|
| RUNNING TIME: |
147 minutes, Color & B / W |
| ORIGIN: |
USA |
The film was nominated for the Original Dramatic Score Oscar at the 1997 Academy Awards.
All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more...
90
Variety
David Stratton
Colorful characters, richly evoked settings, epic story of friendship, crime and punishment, and a strong dose of good old-fashioned star power.
88
ReelViews
James Berardinelli
Two and one- half hours of gripping entertainment.
88
Rolling Stone
Peter Travers
Sleepers, for all the doubts it raises, is the work of a man who speaks for absent friends and "for the children we were." It's his secret heart.
80
Time
Richard Schickel
At some low, what's-next level, Sleepers works like, well, gangbusters.
[28 October 1996, p. 113]
75
USA Today
Mike Clark
Engrosses if it doesn't fully convince. [18 October 1996, p.1D]
75
Chicago Sun-Times
Roger Ebert
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.
75
San Francisco Chronicle
Peter Stack
A visual masterpiece that powerfully explores male cruelty, too.
75
San Francisco Examiner
Barbara Shulgasser
Sometimes the movie lacks a quietness, an omission most egregiously felt at the end.
70
Washington Post
Kevin McManus
It features a pleasing mix of good-guy gumshoeing, smart-alecky dialogue and courtroom surprises.
50
Entertainment Weekly
Owen Gleiberman
By the end, the main thing that's been abused is the audience's intelligence.
50
The Onion (A.V. Club)
John Krewson
Muddy, confused, and worst of all boring, Sleepers grinds to the preordained halt shared by any over-budgeted epic that lacks the simple necessity of good story.
40
Austin Chronicle
Steve Davis
Somewhat byzantine in execution and confusing in its logic, the film's second half never achieves the catharsis you'd expect.
30
Los Angeles Times
Kenneth Turan
The film's tone works overtime at mythologizing tawdry incidents into some ultimate epic about the lost innocence of youth. Gilded trash is more like it.
30
The New York Times
Elvis Mitchell
As directed by Barry Levinson and acted by an incredible collection of male stars, Sleepers settles the authenticity question by allowing not a whiff of real life into its universe.
30
TV Guide
Staff (Not credited)
The dullest movie ever made about child abuse, conspiracy and murder.
30
Washington Post
Rita Kempley
Recalls those corny Warner Bros. movies about Dead End Kids.
25
Christian Science Monitor
David Sterritt
Barry Levinson's filmmaking style is often imaginative. The story contains horrific scenes of sexual torture as well as sadistic killings and other disturbing material, though.
10
Newsweek
David Ansen
Rent the devastating "The Boys of St. Vincent" to see how slick and hollow Sleepers is, how little it reveals about the real nature and effect of child abuse. [28 October 1996, p. 74]
 The average user rating for this movie is 9.5 (out of 10) based on 2 User Votes
Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.
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