The Devil's Own

5.9

17,484

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Original title: The Devil's Own
Year: 1997
Running time: 111 min.
Country: United States
Director: Alan J. Pakula
Screenwriter: Kevin Jarre, David Aaron Cohen, Vincent Patrick
Music: James Horner
Cinematography: Gordon Willis
Cast: Harrison Ford, Brad Pitt, Margaret Colin, Rubén Blades, Treat Williams, George Hearn, Mitchell Ryan, Natascha McElhone, Paul Ronan, Simon Jones, Julia Stiles, Ashley Carin, Kelly Singer, David O'Hara, David Wilmot, Anthony Brophy, Shane Dunne, Martin Dunne, Gabrielle Reidy, Samantha ConroySee 10 More
Producer: Columbia Pictures
Genre: Thriller. Mystery | Terrorism. IRA
Synopsis: Alan J. Pakula's last film, is a character-driven thriller that confronts suspense and gritty realism head-on. Harrison Ford plays Tom O'Meara, an Irish-American cop in New York who opens his home and family to Francis "Frankie" McGuire (Brad Pitt), whom they believe is a refuge-seeking immigrant from Belfast. They later discover that their visitor is an IRA rebel on a terrorist mission. Buoyed by tense, strong performances from both stars, the film is ultimately a tragedy that explores the unexpected friendship of two men of similar ethnic roots, yet of different places, times, and values, and the cruel and senseless cycle of violence they face.

Critics' reviews

"Despite the toxic buzz, 'The Devil's Own' is a surprisingly coherent look at lawbreaking."

Peter Travers: Rolling Stone
"The moral reasoning in the film is so confusing that only by completely sidestepping it can the plot work at all (...) Rating: ★★½ (out of 4)"

Roger Ebert: rogerebert.com
"'The Devil's Own' delivers two traffic-stopping star turns for the price of one (...) [It] certainly tracks more smoothly than might have been expected"

Janet Maslin: The New York Times
"Epically awful (...) It evokes everything that is wrong with Hollywood, from the industry’s obsession with casting to its inability to differentiate good scripts from bad."

Desson Thomson: The Washington Post
"It's a movie with many strong points, entertaining scenes, good moments. But, like Ireland, it's also a victim of partition, politics and misunderstanding (…) Rating: ★★½ (out of 4)"

Michael Wilmington: Chicago Tribune
"A reasonably engrossing, well-crafted suspenser (...) Pakula has managed to maintain an admirable concentration on the central moral equation"

Todd McCarthy: Variety
"Pitt and Ford keep things interesting (...) The plot gets extremely murky at several points, and a number of secondary characters (...) are a mix of cardboard and cliche."

Carol Buckland: CNN
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