Sleepers, 1996

Sleepers, 1996
Director: Barry Levinson
Cast: Brad Pitt, Robert de Niro, Kevin Bacon, Dustin Hoffmann, Minnie Driver, Jason Patric




Sleepers in short: Four boys growing up in Hell's Kitchen play a prank that leads to an old man getting hurt. Sentenced to no less than one year in the Wilkenson Center in upstate New York, the four friends are changed by the beating, humiliation and sexual abuse by the guards sworn to protect them. Thirteen years later and a chance meeting lead to a chance for revenge against the Wilkenson Center and the guards.



Preps: None in perticular. The cast is astounding. The director is one of my favourites. And I have naturally watched this earlier, as a child. Admired it at that time, I am sure I will even more now with a critical eye.



Reality: I am right. This is one of better bitter stories ever being put on screen. I believe Levinson is a genious and a coragious man to put this live. Still, the US government and all similar facilities, deny that such places exist, such actions ever could take place and that there wasn't a trial as depicted in the movie.
Well, the story will rip your bones off. It is breathtaking and it makes you shiver with fear and horror all along the way. Violence creates violence. Put normal boys into a facility of correction, juvenile home or something, abuse them and be sure they will grow up to be criminals, most of them.
The sad story revolves around four boys being taken into a facility for a homicide they commited unintentionally. And the abuse they were submitted to, it is just horrible. Their commitment never to speak about that part of their lives is broken when two former boys, now adults, have the chance to take the revenge with a guy that raped them. So they kill them and are put into trial.
The trial isn't about the killing, it's about revenge to the facility that abused them while they were taken in for a year in their childhood. And they get the revenge, with style.
The cast is magnificent. The story is breathtaking. The director did his work and it shivers me even now as I write about it. A must see for any person. It will make you fear of such institutions and make you never do wrong in a way you would get into a facility like that. It will make you hate those that abuse children, even more. And will make you think about the sacrifice you are willing to take for the ones you love. The priest treads on his values or virtues to help the kids get the revenge they want. The truth, even though not admitted by the government, is out and it should be. In a fair world, such things wouldn't go unpunished. And no kids would die on streets with 29. But that is in fairy tales. We live in a no dream world. And need to take it seriously, for it's a place for filth and abuse. You see this undoubtfully in this piece. It will tear down your heart.


My personal rate: 8,5 (splendid piece that makes you think way beyond its purpose and content. It makes you cry in your heart and feel with the characters. Not many pieces do that to you).


Sleepers on IMDB

The Lincoln Lawyer, 2011

The Lincoln Lawyer, 2011
Director: Brad Furman
Cast: Matthew McConnaughey, Marisa Tomei, Ryan Phillippe

Stage: home theatre, on a lovely evening with my best friend

The Lincoln Lawyer in short: Mick Haller is a defense lawyer who works out of his Lincoln. When a wealthy Realtor is accused of raping a prostitute, Haller is asked to defend him. The man claims that the woman is trying to get some money out of him. But when Haller looks at the evidence against him, he learns that this case might be linked to an old case of his.

Preps: MMMM, yummy cast. The topic seems to be one of my personal favourites. And I am curious about the impact that Tomei and Philippe will have. Am sure that McConnaughey will be charming as always.

Reality: Wow, a positive surprise. Starting off with the devil's advocate - a figure of a successful young man, having everything at the top of his knees, begging for his time and patience. Whenever you see a figure like this, you wonder, how will this figure end and what will be the downfall. Because it's too good to be true forever.

The plot is simple and the case this lawyer is looking through, seems very clear. As we are already used to seeing rich people getting away with everything we have to be certain also in this case, if something goes wrong, this rich kid will pay to get his ass off the hook. Unfortunately enough for him, he isn't bred on the right side of the alley, because sometimes money cannot solve everything. The devil's advocate brilliantly falls into several traps and somehow finds also the escape gates at all times.. all the time inbetween you have a gut feeling he's gonna die, he's gonna get hit/robbed/raped - something from this scale. Because you can be quite certain he's playing a dangerous game that could easily cost him his life. In the end, a surprising turnover that can leave you without a breath for a few seconds at least. Brilliantly played, excellent choice of scenery and a good flow of adrenalin inbetween. Can easily say one of better action adventure drama (all - in - one) mixes lately.

How much is the truth worth - is one of the questions this movie poses. And how can you buy it, if we start from the point that everything is for sale. How come a lawyer that defends people that go beyond, all of the sudden, regrets something he did in his past? Can you live with yourself or do you every now and then, get into remorsement phase in your life and want to pay off your stinking debts/some ruins you caused.. an interesting call McConnaughey makes while trying to make it up for a ruined life of one individual he acciddently discovered. How about he never discovered this mistake he made? Would he still be so full of himself? This coincidence makes the line of activities he's trying to make, completely different and reverses all things he once believed in. In some sense, you get the feeling that even a tough guy like this one has to have a heart and conscience at some point, which means that all of us are vulnerable up to some extent, you just need to find the right trigger. So this could be the clue, what the trigger might be for a lawywer that works for the dark side.

Brilliant act from Tomei, on the other hand. I just love her sparks and energy. All in all, for all freaks like me, that go bizerk on lawyer / trial content in a movie, and maybe once dreamed about being one of the guys in LA Law or McBeal, well, this is the piece to watch.

My personal rating: 8,0 (a good, solid piece, that will easily keep your ass in the seat).

The Lincoln lawyer on IMDB

A time to kill, 1996

A time to kill, 1996
Director: Joel Schumacher
Cast: Sandra Bullock, Matthew McConnaughey, Samuel L. Jackson, Kevin Spacey



Time to kill in short: A young lawyer defends a black man accused of murdering two men who raped his 10-year-old daughter, sparking a rebirth of the KKK

Stage: home theatre, TV production

Preps: none - I have seen this masterpiece in 1996 at the local movies and I was so impressed I wanted to see it again somewhere in the future. However, I never had the chance until now, so I grabbed a finer (surprisingly) TV selection on a Sunday evening at home.

The movie is a remarkable piece on the way we are surrounded with prejudice, which we carry from our neighbours, childhood, state we live in (country), maybe ourselves and our fear. The reflection of hatred against dark/black people shocks me to my very bones and frightens the hell out of me. We still have those dark places in the world, where we all behave like animals - a piece of that is embedded in this movie. There are animals inside of each person (different species), which awaken, when threatened, when provoked or when they see a bigger point in it. And they cannot be controlled.

Things around black issues spread in this movie like plague. The action revolving around the case is astounding, the crying is real and the feelings of disgust run through my veins. The cast is brilliant, from Samuel, to Kevin Spacey and furthermore, to the selected team on the justice side. The story about the young girl, who was raped, at the final lawyer speech, shocks every person in that court and also every individual behind the screen, watching this movie.

It will rock your sympathy, it will make you think about the eternity and who are those that really deserve to live and die. It did in my case.


My personal rating: 9,0 (pure rage and dissappointment upon human cruelty will shock your nerves)

Time to kill on IMDB