Sleepers: Barry Levinson's Dark Drama Celebrates 30 Years with an Upgrade (4K)

The Film:

Academy Award-winning director Barry Levinson has given us a number of classics throughout his illustrious career, including "Rain Man" (winner of the Best Picture Oscar), "Good Morning Vietnam," "Diner," and "Bugsy," but one of his surprise hits that doesn't seem to get mentioned all that much from his impressive filmography is a little film called "Sleepers," which is celebrating its remarkable 30th anniversary this year.

The film didn't have that much success with the critics, but as mentioned, it was certainly a box office smash, amassing nearly four times its large $44 million production budget. Even after that, it's been mostly well-regarded by the public, who have given it favorable ratings for its emotional story & stellar cast. With it reaching its three-decade milestone, Warner Bros. is celebrating by giving the dark drama a marvelous 4K upgrade so that fans can continue to enjoy this lesser-talked-about Levinson work in the best quality possible, so once more it's time to delve back into the past to see if average viewers did a better job than the professionals, or if the critics had it pegged correctly all along.

Starting off in 1960s Hell's Kitchen, we follow teenagers Lorenzo "Shakes" Carcaterra (Joe Perrino), John Riley (Geoffrey Wigdor), Tommy Marcano (Jonathan Tucker), and Michael Sullivan (Brad Renfro), four inseparable best friends who spend their time hanging out with local priest Bobby Carillo (Robert De Niro) and running errands for gangster King Benny (Sean Patrick Reilly). One day, the kids decide to play a prank on a hot dog vendor that results in a man getting seriously injured, causing the boys to be sent to a juvenile detention facility called The Wilkinson Home for Boys. During their sentence, they are subjected to constant sexual abuse & torture from the guards, led by Sean Nokes (Kevin Bacon), with the boys ultimately deciding to stay silent regarding their treatment when they finally get out.

The story then jumps to 1981, where we find Tommy (Billy Crudup) and John (Ron Eldard) working for the Irish mob. They happen to come across Nokes in a bar one night and shoot him in front of several witnesses, bringing forth a trial that has Michael (Brad Pitt), now an assistant DA, taking up the case with the intent of botching it not only to get his friends off, but also to expose what the guards did at the facility. With Shakes (Jason Patric) helping him carry out the plan, will they be able to achieve the end result they so desperately want?

Before we get into the actual review, we should probably address how the film is based on the book by Lorenzo Carcaterra, whose account of what happened have been heavily challenged by his school & the Manhattan DA's office (and that's on top of there being no record of the murder or trial), but while he admits to making up most of the details, he still claims that the events actually happened. However, with nothing to back up these claims, it remains more than a little dubious.

Still, looking at the film version of the tale, it's actually a decently compelling story. We watch as these kids get mixed up in things they shouldn't be, which is followed by them doing something remarkably stupid (something that these young men thought was harmless, but was obviously a very bad idea), leading to the necessary consequences. However, this leads to even worse consequences than they could've possibly imagined, a turn that brings a great deal of viewer sympathy to these kids who had simply made a really dumb mistake.

When it comes to the second half, what we find is a more procedural structure that has two of the friends (and others) banding together in order to put all of the pieces into place for Tommy & John's trial, including a bumbling lawyer (Dustin Hoffman) for the defense, changing the minds of witnesses, and trying to acquire a credible witness of their own to help establish an alibi. Sure, this part of the film feels a little more mechanical in that it becomes a matter of checking off steps that need completing before & during the trial, but even so, it remains engaging enough as we watch it all come together for its entirely-expected ending.

Helping it along the way is the aforementioned stellar cast that includes Kevin Bacon, Robert De Niro, Brad Pitt, Dustin Hoffman, as well as a talented group of younger actors portraying the main characters as teens. They do a wonderful job of bringing the full emotional weight of the story to the forefront, and even when it becomes more rigidly structured in the latter half, they keep it moving along quite well, despite having a somewhat over-stretched runtime to deal with.

Overall, "Sleepers" may not be the most memorable project in Barry Levinson's incredible filmography, but it remains a compelling work that brings together an excellent ensemble to tell a dark, emotional tale of abuse & revenge. The accuracy of the events depicted is still highly doubtful, but even as a fictionalized work, it's rather engaging, ultimately making for a film that's worth revisiting as it comes to 4K for its 30th anniversary.

Video/Audio:

"Sleepers" comes to 4K in a 2.39:1, 2160p Ultra High Definition transfer of marvelous quality. The upgrade has sharpened the picture considerably, giving you a crisp & clear image throughout its entire 148-minute runtime, even during its multitude of dark scenes. Likewise, the 5.1 DTS-HD MA track is fantastic, giving you all of the dialogue & John Williams' Oscar-nominated score in excellent quality. Overall, Warner Bros. has done a wonderful job in both areas for the film's 4K debut.

Special Features:

The Making of Sleepers: a Conversation with Barry Levinson (6 Minutes): A featurette that has the writer/director reminiscing about the film.

Sleepers: The Art of Casting with Barry Levinson (7 Minutes): A featurette that has Levinson discussing the film's ensemble.

Conclusion:

"Sleepers" may not be the most memorable film in Oscar-winner Barry Levinson's filmography, but thanks to its incredible ensemble and emotional narrative, it's able to overcome its rather lengthy runtime & somewhat procedural second half to give viewers a mostly compelling & engaging experience that ultimately delivers where it counts.

Score: 3.5/5

Available on 4K starting tomorrow.

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