directed by Barry Levinson
There are so many gems in this film that you cannot miss it. But let me tell you what it’s about and later I can share the most admirable elements. We get to know 4 boys who are a group of friends: Lorenzo knowns as Shakes (Joe Perrino, later Jason Patric), Tommy (Jonathan Tucker, later Billy Crudup), Michael (Brad Renfro, later Brad Pitt) and John (Geoffrey Wigdor, later Ron Eldard). They are just normal children, often guided and supported by their local priest Father Bobby (Robert De Niro). However, at some point they start cooperating with wrong people and accidentally injure a man during a robbery. All of them are sent to Wilkinson Home for Boys where guards tend to torture and abuse children. Horrible things are happening there, but you will see yourselves. After leaving the facility, they decide not to tell anyone and keep it a secret. When the boys grow up, they one day bump into Sean Nokes (Kevin Bacon), the worst and most abusive guard from Wilkinson Home. And they have a chance to get revenge… Not telling you more, but now I’d like to share why I found this film worth watching. First of all, the story. It’s often that children are abused by adults if nobody’s watching. And since children are too small and weak to fight back, they often shut themselves up and deal with the trauma. We should speak about and do it very loudly. Besides, juveniles or any kind of facilities like that shouldn’t be houses for torturing. I know it’s not possible to work with everyone, but we should be more focused on educating such criminals during their sentence. Second thing is that I was surprised by Robert De Niro as I couldn’t recognise him. His role of the priest was something different and I think I discovered this actor one more time. And my personal cherry on top – Kevin Bacon! I’d like you to pay attention to how spectacularly he performed in this film. Especially in the scene where one of the boys is undressing and Nokes is standing behind the bars looking at him. When the boy takes off his underwear, the camera points at Nokes and we can see a slight movement with his eyes. Yes, eyes. He honestly expressed this sick desire of his character with his eyes only. I had chills. Chapeau bas, Mr. Bacon! Oh and if you haven’t seen young Brad Pitt as a lawyer, you may also be interested in this production.
My rating: 7/10
S.
I have nothing to watch 