The Devil's Own (1997)

User Rating:

5.8/10   

Director:

Alan J. Pakula

Writers (WGA):

Kevin Jarre (story)
David Aaron Cohen (screenplay) ...

Release Date:

26 March 1997 (USA)

Genre:

Action | Drama | Thriller

Tagline:

One man trapped by destiny, and another bound by duty. They're about to discover what they're willing to fight, and to die for.

Plot:

A police officer uncovers the real identity of his houseguest, an IRA terrorist in hiding.

Plot Keywords:

Ireland | Murder | Police | Friendship | Northern Ireland

Cast

Harrison Ford	...	Tom O'Meara
Brad Pitt	...	Rory Devaney / Francis Austin McGuire
Margaret Colin	...	Sheila O'Meara
Rubén Blades	...	Edwin Diaz
Treat Williams	...	Billy Burke
George Hearn	...	Peter Fitzsimmons
Mitch Ryan	...	Chief Jim Kelly (as Mitchell Ryan)
Natascha McElhone	...	Megan Doherty
Paul Ronan	...	Sean Phelan
Simon Jones	...	Harry Sloan
Julia Stiles	...	Bridget O'Meara
Ashley Carin	...	Morgan O'Meara
Kelly Singer	...	Annie O'Meara
David O'Hara	...	Martin MacDuf
David Wilmot	...	Dessie

MPAA:

Rated R for strong brutal violence, and for language.

Runtime:

107 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

SDDS | Dolby Digital

Certification:

USA:R (certificate #34333) | Iceland:14 | Iceland:16 (video rating) | Argentina:16 | Australia:M | Belgium:KT | Finland:K-16 | Germany:12 | Netherlands:16 | Norway:15 | Portugal:M/16 | South Korea:15 (VHS rating) (cut) | South Korea:18 (DVD rating) | Spain:18 | Sweden:15 | UK:15 | Singapore:PG

Filming Locations:

Baruch College, Manhattan, New York City, New York, USA

Company:

Columbia Pictures Corporation

Trivia:

Average Shot Length = ~4.8 seconds. Median Shot Length = ~4.6 seconds.

Goofs:

Revealing mistakes: When Tom enters the morgue, Eddies eyes twitch, though he supposed to be dead.

Quotes:

Tom O'Meara: I understand why he's doin' what he's doin'. If I had to endure what he's endured - -if I was eight years old and saw my father gunned down in front of my family - -I'd be carryin' a gun too, and I wouldn't be wearin' a badge.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "The Nanny: The Nose Knows (#4.15)" (1997)

Soundtrack:

Veni Creator Spiritus

Inaccurate

This film is just a second-rate thriller which uses Northern Ireland as a convenient backdrop to add colour. Unfortunately, the portrayal of Belfast and the terrorists and intelligence community is stereotypical, romanticised and hugely inaccurate. The gun battle at the beginning is just ludicrous and from then on the film becomes a showcase for nauseating Irish-American 'culture,' all blarney and dreaming of the 'oul country. The acting doesn't help as Ford sleepwalks and Pitt can't maintain the accent. It is possible to make good thrillers set in Northern Ireland which do not dodge the politics and have sensitivity, but none of them have been made by US production companies. 'Harry's Game' is by far the best example, devastatingly accurate closely followed by 'The Children of The North' and the black comedy 'Divorcing Jack' more recently. See these and give this Hollywood rubbish a miss.