The Devil's Own

March 26, 1997 0 By Fans
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Still of Harrison Ford in The Devil's OwnStill of Brad Pitt in The Devil's OwnStill of Rubén Blades in The Devil's OwnStill of Brad Pitt and Harrison Ford in The Devil's OwnStill of Harrison Ford in The Devil's OwnStill of Brad Pitt, Harrison Ford and Alan J. Pakula in The Devil's Own

Plot

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

Release Year: 1997

Rating: 5.9/10 (26,068 voted)

Critic's Score: 53/100

Director:
Alan J. Pakula

Stars: Harrison Ford, Brad Pitt, Margaret Colin

Storyline
A thriller about an IRA gunman who draws an American family into the crossfire of terrorism. Frankie McGuire is one of the IRA's deadliest assassins. But when he is sent to the U.S. to buy weapons, Frankie is housed with the family of Tom O'Meara, a New York cop who knows nothing about Frankie's real identity. Their surprising friendship, and Tom's growing suspicions, force Frankie to choose between the promise of peace of a lifetime of murder.

Writers: Kevin Jarre, David Aaron Cohen

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 MacDuff


David Wilmot

Dessie

Taglines:
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.

Release Date: 26 March 1997

Filming Locations: Baruch College, Manhattan, New York City, New York, USA



Box Office Details

Budget: $90,000,000

(estimated)

Opening Weekend: $18,063,265
(USA)
(30 March 1997)
(2504 Screens)

Gross: $81,500,000
(Worldwide)
(except USA)



Technical Specs

Runtime:



Did You Know?

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:

Billy Burke:
Go get the money and we can do the deal. There's a warehouse at 12th and 7th. I'll be waiting. And please don't fool around… or I'll kill your friend.

Rory:
Stupid man!



User Review

Why must Hollywood meddle in things it doesn't understand?

Rating: 6/10

I say this making no pretense at completely understanding the Irish
conflict myself (you'd have to ask someone with experience of Belfast for a
more authentic take on the situation), but the irresponsible way the
troubles were used here as a backdrop to what is supposed entertainment
staggers me. It isn't as if it needed this detail; the terrorist could have
been from any unspecified organisation. In the incompetent handling of
sensitive issues that the makers really have no idea of, the production team
involved in this really have let themselves down. Brad Pitt realised this
too late and henceforth disowned the film, a fact which made me admire and
respect him even more.

For this I wanted to hate the film, and yet found myself unable to.
Beneath the misbegotten attempts at 'political comment', there is a decent
little thriller struggling to get out. Pitt is great as the terrorist
(dodgy accent aside) and Ford is as reliable as ever in the role of the
honest cop. Director Pakula keeps the story moving at all times and stages
the action well. Despite all these pluses, I constantly felt uncomfortable
at the ways in which the script tried to manipulate my sympathies. While
it's not quite enough to make me downgrade the film on an enjoyment level,
it loses big points from an ethical perspective. Shame on you
Tinseltown.