--- title: "Sleepers" year: 1996 kind: "film" canonical: "https://film.one/film/sleepers" fi1m_id: "sleepers" imdb_id: "tt0117665" tmdb_id: 819 wikidata_id: "Q1145732" fi1m_score: 57 critics_score: 58 critics_reviews: 8 published: "2026-10-05T00:20:38.166537+00:00" updated: "2026-10-05T00:20:46.277854+00:00" region: "FR" licence: "© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL." --- # Sleepers (1996) Directed by Barry Levinson · 2h 27m · CNC 12 · Crime, Drama, Thriller ## Identity Sleepers - **Canonical:** https://film.one/film/sleepers - **Type:** Film - **Fi1m ID:** sleepers - **IMDb ID:** tt0117665 - **TMDB ID:** 819 - **Wikidata ID:** Q1145732 - **Same entity:** https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0117665/, https://www.themoviedb.org/movie/819, https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q1145732 **Fi1m score: 57** · Critics 58 from 8 reviews *In a sentence:* The boys are frighteningly real and then they grow up into Brad Pitt > Barry Levinson’s film of Lorenzo Carcaterra’s book is harrowing for an hour, with Kevin Bacon quietly terrifying as a reformatory guard, and then turns into a glossy courtroom drama that cannot make its revenge believable. The boys are worth seeing; the men are not. ## Synopsis Hell’s Kitchen, Manhattan, 1966. Four boys, Shakes, Michael (Brad Renfro), John and Tommy, serve as altar boys for Father Bobby (Robert De Niro), run errands for the gangster King Benny (Vittorio Gassman) and trail after Carol, the girl from their block. One afternoon they steal a hot dog cart; it gets away from them, rolls down the steps of a subway entrance and crushes a man at the bottom. The four are sentenced to the Wilkinson Home for Boys, where a guard named Nokes (Kevin Bacon) runs the dormitories after lights out by his own rules. Years later the four, now grown (Jason Patric, Brad Pitt, Ron Eldard, Billy Crudup), are drawn back together by what was done to them there. ## Review Barry Levinson has adapted Lorenzo Carcaterra’s book, which was sold as a true story and argued over as one. Four boys from Hell’s Kitchen are sent to a reformatory, something is done to them there, and as grown men they get even. At 147 minutes it is two films joined in the middle: a serious, frightening hour about children in a locked building, then a courtroom drama with four stars in it, and that is where the trouble starts. Levinson is good with boys, as anyone who saw [*Diner*](https://film.one/film/diner) (1982) will remember, and the opening is his. The four young actors, with Brad Renfro’s watchful Michael at the centre, talk over each other, dare each other, and serve mass for Father Bobby (Robert De Niro) while running errands for King Benny (Vittorio Gassman). Kristi Zea’s Hell’s Kitchen is stoops, fire escapes and a church. Then the hot dog cart gets away from them and goes down the subway stairs, and Levinson holds on the boys’ faces rather than the man at the bottom, which is the right call and about the last time the film trusts us to do the work. The Wilkinson Home for Boys is the film’s best stretch and its hardest to sit through. Zea builds it in tile and iron, long dormitories and longer corridors, and Michael Ballhaus lights it thin and grey so the boys look small and the guards, shot from a little below, do not. Kevin Bacon’s Nokes is the performance of the film: a quiet man with a soft voice and all the time in the world, who leans on a bunk the way other men lean on a bar. We were horrified, and the horror came from how little Levinson shows. A boy walked down a corridor at night, a door, the camera left in the hall. That is enough, and the film knows it is enough. Then the film jumps forward and changes character. Shakes (Jason Patric) works on a newspaper, Michael (Brad Pitt) is a prosecutor, John (Ron Eldard) and Tommy (Billy Crudup) do the neighbourhood’s dirty work, and Carol (Minnie Driver) is the woman all four of them half-love. The second half takes a turn we will not describe. What we can say is that it leads to a trial, and that the trial depends on every person in Manhattan doing exactly what four men need them to do, at exactly the moment they need it done. Nobody in the film finds this remarkable. The adults are the problem. The boys were particular, with their own cruelties and jokes; the men who replace them are handsome and solemn and could swap roles without anyone noticing. Pitt looks uncomfortable in both the suit and the part. Patric narrates in a voice of permanent regret, and Levinson’s screenplay lets the narration argue the case for revenge rather than letting a scene do it. De Niro, doing little and doing it exactly, has the one adult scene that lands, when Father Bobby is asked to choose between his conscience and the boys he raised, and he plays the choosing on his face for a long, silent minute. Dustin Hoffman arrives as Danny Snyder, a defence lawyer with a drink problem, and he is a pleasure, shambling through the courtroom as if looking for his car. He is also a sign of what the film has become by then, a place for stars to do turns. John Williams writes a solemn, choral score that tells us this is tragedy; it suits the reformatory, and in the courtroom it is too much. Stu Linder cuts the first half tight and lets the second wander, so that by the two-hour mark we were checking the clock, and then annoyed at ourselves for it, because the opening had earned better. Ballhaus shot [*Goodfellas*](https://film.one/film/goodfellas) (1990), and Levinson borrows that film’s neighbourhood, its priests and its wiseguys, without its doubt. *Goodfellas* knew its narrator was lying to himself. *Sleepers* believes every word Shakes says. It carries an 18, and the Wilkinson hour is not for a casual evening; be ready for it. Watch for Bacon, for Renfro and the boys, and for De Niro’s minute of silence. The rest is a long, well-dressed epilogue that explains at length what the first hour had already shown. *Fi1m score 57, published 5 October 2026.* ## What the critics say Most critics find Sleepers watchable and often forceful, and the praise clusters around the cast. De Niro and Hoffman are singled out, Hoffman for his turn as a ragged attorney, and several reviews credit the young actors with supplying the emotional pull that the adult half of the film relies on. The look of the film draws approval too, particularly the photography inside the boys’ home and the production design. The reservations are about the story. Nearly every review, including the warmer ones, calls the plotting unconvincing, and most question whether the film has thought through its approval of revenge taken outside the law. Several find it overlong, with the courtroom section weaker than the opening. The spread is wide: two of the eight dismiss it outright, The New Yorker calling it mechanical and formulaic, The New York Times finding it slick and cynical with little suspense. The disagreement is not over whether the film is well made but whether its account of events can be believed. ## Straight answers **Is Sleepers worth watching?** *Sleepers* is worth watching for its first hour, when four boys from Hell's Kitchen are sent to a reformatory and Kevin Bacon's guard is quietly terrifying, and we scored it 57. The second half, a glossy courtroom drama with Brad Pitt and Jason Patric as the grown men, cannot make its revenge believable. See it for the boys, Bacon and Robert De Niro; expect the men to disappoint. **How long is Sleepers, and what is it rated?** *Sleepers* runs 2h 27m and is rated 12 by the CNC in France. It is a crime and drama film. **Where can I watch Sleepers in France?** *Sleepers* is streaming on Netflix in France, and it is also available to rent from Amazon Prime Video from €2.99. Availability is checked daily; the links above go straight to each service. **How violent or frightening is Sleepers, and is it suitable for children?** *Sleepers* carries an 18 certificate and is not suitable for children; its reformatory section concerns what a guard does to boys after lights out. Levinson shows little, leaving the camera in the corridor, but the implication is harrowing, and the film also opens with a man crushed by a runaway cart. Adults who find cruelty to children hard to watch should know the Wilkinson hour is the hardest stretch. **How does Sleepers compare to Mystic River?** *Sleepers* is the weaker film beside [*Mystic River*](https://film.one/film/mystic-river), which tells a similar story of damaged boys grown into men and holds together to the end. Both begin with boys taken away, but Eastwood lets the harm sit unexplained for decades, while *Sleepers* spends its second half on a courtroom revenge it cannot make believable. Watch *Sleepers* for Kevin Bacon, *Mystic River* for Tim Robbins and Marcia Gay Harden. **Is Sleepers based on a true story or a book?** *Sleepers* is based on Lorenzo Carcaterra's novel, which was sold as a true story and has been argued over as one ever since. Barry Levinson's film takes it at face value, believing every word of its narrator where a more sceptical film might not. You do not need to have read the book; the first hour tells you everything the rest explains at length. **What should I watch after Sleepers?** After *Sleepers*, try [*Mystic River*](https://film.one/film/mystic-river) (2003, Fi1m 82): Three Boston boys, one car, and Eastwood lets the damage sit unexplained for decades. Then [*A Prophet*](https://film.one/film/a-prophet) (2009, Fi1m 86): Audiard’s French prison film, where power is learned the hard way and never narrated; and [*Once Upon a Time in America*](https://film.one/film/once-upon-a-time-in-america) (1984, Fi1m 81): Leone’s Lower East Side boys grow into De Niro; the childhood half is the keeper. ### Reviews we read (8) - **Total Film**, Total Film (4/5): The review finds Sleepers compelling entertainment but overlong and ultimately unconvincing in its plotting and moral message. It praises the performances, especially De Niro’s, and the powerful cinematography in the boys’ home. [Read](https://www.gamesradar.com/sleepers-review/) - **RogerEbert.com**, Roger Ebert (3/4): Ebert finds the film emotionally forceful but compromised by its storytelling. He singles out the performances as a strength. [Read](https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/sleepers-1996) - **Empire**, Darren Bignell (68/100, inferred): The critic finds the film compelling but uneven, with its courtroom section less effective than its opening. The younger actors stand out for creating the emotional connection that anchors the story. [Read](https://www.empireonline.com/movies/reviews/sleepers-review/) - **Variety**, David Stratton (68/100, inferred): Stratton finds the film an engaging, confidently paced saga, while questioning its moral endorsement of revenge outside the law. He particularly praises the vividly evoked setting and the performances, singling out Dustin Hoffman’s entertaining turn as a ragged attorney. [Read](https://variety.com/1996/film/reviews/sleepers-1200447001/) - **Time Out**, TCh (64/100, inferred): The review’s verdict cannot be determined from the available page. No praise or complaint is visible because the review text is unavailable. [Read](https://www.timeout.com/movies/sleepers-1) - **Radio Times**, Adrian Turner (3/5): Turner finds the drama overlong and unconvincing, particularly in its moral justification of violent revenge. He acknowledges its powerhouse cast and A-list director, but says they cannot make the story feel believable. [Read](https://www.radiotimes.com/movie-guide/b-7cvbw5/sleepers/) - **The New York Times**, Janet Maslin (30/100, inferred): Maslin finds the film slick, artificial, and fundamentally cynical, with little suspense. She praises Kevin Bacon’s performance and the handsome cinematography and production design. [Read](https://archive.nytimes.com/www.nytimes.com/library/filmarchive/sleepers-film-review.html) - **The New Yorker**, Terrence Rafferty (20/100, inferred): Rafferty finds the film mechanical and unconvincing, arguing that its formulaic plotting makes its claimed true story feel false. He criticizes its clichés and shallow moral conflicts, while noting that Frank Hoffman, Vittorio Gassmann, and Frank Medrano have some fun in their small roles. [Read](https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/1996/11/04/1996-11-04-117-tny-cards-000150979) ## Details - **Director:** Barry Levinson - **Director:** Barry Levinson - **Screenplay:** Barry Levinson - **Novel:** Lorenzo Carcaterra - **Cinematography:** Michael Ballhaus - **Editor:** Stu Linder - **Music:** John Williams - **Production design:** Kristi Zea - **Costume design:** Gloria Gresham - **Producer:** Steve Golin, Barry Levinson - **Cast:** Kevin Bacon as Nokes; Robert De Niro as Father Bobby; Dustin Hoffman as Danny Snyder; Bruno Kirby as Shakes' Father; Jason Patric as Shakes; Brad Pitt as Michael; Minnie Driver as Carol; Brad Renfro as Young Michael - **Runtime:** 2h 27m - **Certificate (CNC):** 12 - **Release (France):** 30 October 1996 - **Genres:** Crime, Drama, Thriller - **Budget:** $44 million - **Box office:** $166 million - **Trailer:** https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rNaMAgf4ErE ## Where to watch in France - Netflix: streaming - Amazon Prime Video: rent €2.99, sd - Amazon Prime Video: buy €8.99, hd *Checked 2026-10-05.* Also available in: AE, AR, AT, AU, AZ, BE, BG, BR, CH, CL, CO, CZ, DE, DK, EC, EE, ES, FI, FR, GB, GR, HK, HR, HU, ID, IE, IL, IN, IS, IT, JP, KR, LT, MX, MY, NL, NO, NZ, PA, PE, PH, PL, PT, RO, RS, SE, SG, SI, SK, TH, TR, UA, US, VN, ZA. Add `?region=XX` to this URL for another country. ## Awards - Academy Awards 1997: Best Original Dramatic Score (nominated) ## If you liked this - *Mystic River* (2003), Fi1m 82: Three Boston boys, one car, and Eastwood lets the damage sit unexplained for decades — [Fi1m page](https://film.one/film/mystic-river.md) - *Scum* (1979): Alan Clarke’s borstal, with no stars, no score and nobody coming to save anyone - *A Prophet* (2009), Fi1m 86: Audiard’s French prison film, where power is learned the hard way and never narrated — [Fi1m page](https://film.one/film/a-prophet.md) - *The Boys of St. Vincent* (1992): A Canadian orphanage and the men who ran it, told without a tidy courtroom - *Once Upon a Time in America* (1984), Fi1m 81: Leone’s Lower East Side boys grow into De Niro; the childhood half is the keeper — [Fi1m page](https://film.one/film/once-upon-a-time-in-america.md) --- © Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL. Canonical: https://film.one/film/sleepers