Levinson knows how to make a movie. He keeps it compelling throughout, and although it runs 2 1/2 hours, Sleepers offers no room for catnaps.

| Oct 16, 2019

It plays out as a stylish and lurid amoral vigilante thriller, one that never earns the viewer's confidence that this is the real thing.

| Original Score: B- | Apr 27, 2015

Views the gray tones of good and evil and what lengths people are willing to go through to re-claim the dignity they lost as children.

| Nov 13, 2013

| Original Score: C | Sep 7, 2011

...it's more than a bit disconcerting to see how the narrative makes serious wrongdoers sympathetic. Therefore, a qualified success.

| Original Score: 6/10 | Aug 16, 2011

Despite it all, just try to take your eyes off this movie: skillfully crafted by Levinson, Sleepers is eminently watchable, deeply emotional, and populated with top acting talent. [Blu-ray]

| Original Score: 2.5/4 | Aug 2, 2011

Powerful story of child abuse. Not for kids.

| Original Score: 4/5 | Jan 1, 2011

The problems start with Levinson's script, which overemploys Patric's florid narration to tell you what you're about to see, what it means and how you should feel about it.

| Jul 6, 2010

''Sleepers'' has become a big Hollywood movie with a slick, shrewd manner that perfectly mirrors Mr. Carcaterra's writing style.

| Jul 6, 2010

Boasting a glorious multi-generational cast (De Niro, Hoffman, Brad Pitt, Jason Patric), Levinson's tale of sexual abuse and revenge is just decent, lacking dramatic energy and relying too much on voice-over narration and conventional courtroom procedures

| Original Score: B- | Aug 23, 2009

It is all legally preposterous. But Levinson is a slick craftsman, his actors are insinuatingly real, and cinematographer Michael Ballhaus casts a disarmingly believable light on these proceedings.

| Aug 14, 2009

Disturbing, but compelling and provocative.

| Aug 14, 2009

One thing you will not being doing after seeing this dark, yet beautifully written film, is sleeping.

Full Review | Original Score: 4.5/5 | Aug 2, 2008

If audiences aren't bothered by this disturbing subtext, there's a lot to enjoy in this impeccably structured, handsomely produced saga.

Full Review | Jun 24, 2008

Levinson has done nothing to sift the half-truths from the melodrama...

| Feb 9, 2006

Full Review | Original Score: 4/5 | Jan 25, 2006

Disturbing and powerful

Full Review | Original Score: 4/5 | Jan 20, 2006

Full Review | Original Score: 2/5 | Apr 21, 2005

Brad Pitt and Jason Patric are, sorry to say, far overshadowed by their more mature colleagues. Neither has any real presence, in my mind, especially Pitt, whose star power is far greater than his acting ability.

| Original Score: B | Apr 9, 2005

Full Review | Original Score: 5/5 | Feb 11, 2005