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Sleepers
Warner Bros.

Sleepers reviews
Critic Score
Metascore: 49 Metascore out of 100
User Score  
9.5 out of 10
based on 18 reviews
Read critic reviews
How did we calculate this?
based on 2 votes
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Rate this movie

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.

What The Critics Said

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.
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88
ReelViews James Berardinelli
Two and one- half hours of gripping entertainment.
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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.
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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.
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75
San Francisco Chronicle Peter Stack
A visual masterpiece that powerfully explores male cruelty, too.
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75
San Francisco Examiner Barbara Shulgasser
Sometimes the movie lacks a quietness, an omission most egregiously felt at the end.
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70
Washington Post Kevin McManus
It features a pleasing mix of good-guy gumshoeing, smart-alecky dialogue and courtroom surprises.
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50
Entertainment Weekly Owen Gleiberman
By the end, the main thing that's been abused is the audience's intelligence.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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30
TV Guide Staff (Not credited)
The dullest movie ever made about child abuse, conspiracy and murder.
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30
Washington Post Rita Kempley
Recalls those corny Warner Bros. movies about Dead End Kids.
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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.
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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]

What Our Users Said

Vote Now!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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