Release CalendarTop 250 MoviesMost Popular MoviesBrowse Movies by GenreTop Box OfficeShowtimes & TicketsMovie NewsIndia Movie Spotlight
    What's on TV & StreamingTop 250 TV ShowsMost Popular TV ShowsBrowse TV Shows by GenreTV News
    What to WatchLatest TrailersIMDb OriginalsIMDb PicksIMDb Podcasts
    OscarsABFFPride MonthOutfest OutfrontsSTARmeter AwardsAwards CentralFestival CentralAll Events
    Born TodayMost Popular CelebsMost Popular CelebsCelebrity News
    Help CenterContributor ZonePolls
For Industry Professionals
  • All
  • Titles
  • TV Episodes
  • Celebs
  • Companies
  • Keywords
  • Advanced Search
Watchlist
Sign In
Sign In
New Customer? Create account
  • Fully supported
  • English (United States)
    Partially supported
  • Français (Canada)
  • Français (France)
  • Deutsch (Deutschland)
  • हिंदी (भारत)
  • Italiano (Italia)
  • Português (Brasil)
  • Español (España)
  • Español (México)
  • Cast & crew
  • User reviews
  • Trivia
IMDbPro

The Devil's Own

  • 1997
  • R
  • 1h 51m
IMDb RATING
6.2/10
68K
YOUR RATING
POPULARITY
3,369
2,193
Brad Pitt and Harrison Ford in The Devil's Own (1997)
A police officer uncovers the real identity of his house-guest, an I.R.A. terrorist in hiding.
Play trailer2:23
3 Videos
76 Photos
ActionCrimeDrama

A police officer uncovers the real identity of his house-guest, an I.R.A. terrorist in hiding.A police officer uncovers the real identity of his house-guest, an I.R.A. terrorist in hiding.A police officer uncovers the real identity of his house-guest, an I.R.A. terrorist in hiding.

  • Director
    • Alan J. Pakula
  • Writers
    • Kevin Jarre
    • David Aaron Cohen
    • Vincent Patrick
  • Stars
    • Harrison Ford
    • Brad Pitt
    • Margaret Colin
  • See production, box office & company info
  • IMDb RATING
    6.2/10
    68K
    YOUR RATING
    POPULARITY
    3,369
    2,193
    • Director
      • Alan J. Pakula
    • Writers
      • Kevin Jarre
      • David Aaron Cohen
      • Vincent Patrick
    • Stars
      • Harrison Ford
      • Brad Pitt
      • Margaret Colin
    • 152User reviews
    • 61Critic reviews
    • 53Metascore
  • See more at IMDbPro
    • Awards
      • 1 nomination

    Videos3

    Official Trailer
    Trailer 2:23
    Watch Official Trailer
    The Devil's Own
    Trailer 2:20
    Watch The Devil's Own
    The Devil's Own
    Trailer 0:31
    Watch The Devil's Own

    Photos76

    Brad Pitt, Harrison Ford, and Alan J. Pakula in The Devil's Own (1997)
    Harrison Ford and Chance Kelly in The Devil's Own (1997)
    Treat Williams in The Devil's Own (1997)
    Harrison Ford in The Devil's Own (1997)
    Rubén Blades in The Devil's Own (1997)
    Brad Pitt, Harrison Ford, Julia Stiles, and Margaret Colin in The Devil's Own (1997)
    Brad Pitt and Natascha McElhone in The Devil's Own (1997)
    Brad Pitt and Harrison Ford in The Devil's Own (1997)
    Harrison Ford in The Devil's Own (1997)
    Brad Pitt in The Devil's Own (1997)
    Brad Pitt in The Devil's Own (1997)
    Margaret Colin in The Devil's Own (1997)

    Top cast

    Edit
    Harrison Ford
    Harrison Ford
    • Tom O'Meara
    Brad Pitt
    Brad Pitt
    • Rory Devaney
    Margaret Colin
    Margaret Colin
    • Sheila O'Meara
    Rubén Blades
    Rubén Blades
    • Edwin Diaz
    • (as Ruben Blades)
    Treat Williams
    Treat Williams
    • Billy Burke
    George Hearn
    George Hearn
    • Peter Fitzsimmons
    Mitchell Ryan
    Mitchell Ryan
    • Chief Jim Kelly
    Natascha McElhone
    Natascha McElhone
    • Megan Doherty
    Paul Ronan
    Paul Ronan
    • Sean Phelan
    Simon Jones
    Simon Jones
    • Harry Sloan
    Julia Stiles
    Julia Stiles
    • Bridget O'Meara
    Ashley Acarino
    Ashley Acarino
    • Morgan O'Meara
    • (as Ashley Carin)
    Kelly Singer
    • Annie O'Meara
    David O'Hara
    David O'Hara
    • Martin MacDuff
    David Wilmot
    David Wilmot
    • Dessie
    Anthony Brophy
    Anthony Brophy
    • Gerard
    Shane Dunne
    • Young Frankie
    Martin Dunne
    • Frankie's Father
    • Director
      • Alan J. Pakula
    • Writers
      • Kevin Jarre
      • David Aaron Cohen
      • Vincent Patrick
    • All cast & crew
    • Production, box office & more at IMDbPro

    More like this

    Spy Game
    7.0
    Spy Game
    Patriot Games
    6.8
    Patriot Games
    Clear and Present Danger
    6.9
    Clear and Present Danger
    Presumed Innocent
    6.9
    Presumed Innocent
    Legends of the Fall
    7.5
    Legends of the Fall
    Seven Years in Tibet
    7.1
    Seven Years in Tibet
    In the Line of Fire
    7.2
    In the Line of Fire
    The Mexican
    6.1
    The Mexican
    The Pelican Brief
    6.6
    The Pelican Brief
    Air Force One
    6.5
    Air Force One
    The General's Daughter
    6.4
    The General's Daughter
    U.S. Marshals
    6.5
    U.S. Marshals

    Storyline

    Edit

    Did you know

    Edit
    • Trivia
      Brad Pitt wanted to leave the production, but was threatened by a lawsuit. In the February 2, 1997, issue of Newsweek, Pitt called the film a "disaster", and said that "it was the most irresponsible bit of filmmaking - if you can even call it that - that I've ever seen. I couldn't believe it". Rumors of fighting on the set (especially over which star would be the focus of the film) plagued the production. The original script was discarded and there were at least seven subsequent rewrites. Pitt said the final version was "a mess". "The script that I had loved was gone," he said. "I guess people just had different visions and you can't argue with that. But then I wanted out and the studio head said, 'All right, we'll let you out, but it'll be $63 million for starters." (Harrison Ford later noted that Pitt "forgot for a moment that he was talking to someone whose job it was to write this s*** down".)
    • Goofs
      When taking Rory/Frankie in to the police station, Tom and his partner leave him alone, though handcuffed, in the rear seat. It is standard police practice to have one officer in back with the suspect, and seated directly behind the driver. This prevents any assault on the driver, or attempt to escape without being observed - or seen too late by way of the rear view mirror as happened here.
    • Quotes

      Rory: Don't look for a happy ending. It's not an American story. It's an Irish one.

    • Connections
      Featured in Siskel & Ebert: Liar Liar/The Graduate/Selena/Crash/Kolya (1997)
    • Soundtracks
      Gonna Fly Now
      Music by Bill Conti

      Lyrics by Carol Connors and Ayn Robbins

    User reviews152

    Review
    Review
    Featured review
    A shamelessly simplistic film that is offensive in its depiction of the Northern Ireland situation and also a flat and boring piece of "entertainment"
    Having become public enemy number one thanks to his murders of RUC, Army and Loyalists alike, Francis McGuire is being hunted by the British Army. With his freedom-fighting brothers being executed by the cruel and ruthless British, Francis has NO CHOICE but to illegally travel to America in order to purchase Stinger missiles from Afghanistan to use them to bring about a United Ireland by blowing up British helicopters. Being put up by family man and cop Tom O'Meara, Francis makes his connections but "they" are closing in on him while Tom also starts to suspect something is up.

    In America, many seem to have an idealised view of Northern Ireland and perhaps do lots of things in their minds to justify (or just ignore) the terrorism that occurs there but even Pitt saw this film as "a mess" and "the most irresponsible bit of film-making – if you can even call it that – that I've ever seen" and trust me when I say that he isn't wrong at all. From the very start, those with any sort of knowledge or understanding of the NI situation will recognise some perversion of facts in the running gun battle that occurs and the way that senior British officers simply execute a prisoner. You could be mistaken for hoping that this was a one-off but the entire film is sympathetic to terrorism and never misses a chance to twist reality, justify it or simplify when it can. In case I'm accused of being a typical Prod and anti-IRA, I would like to point out that terrorism on both sides of the divide is unacceptable and is nothing about "fighting for independence" or any other such wonderful ideals – in fact in the past few years the victims are mostly within the groups' own community and the "action" is more about crime such as drugs etc.

    It is only slightly interesting to view in this the light of events since 11th September and the recent murder of a catholic man by the IRA over a minor barroom squabble. Can you imagine this film being made about a man from the Middle East who turns to terrorism against the West due to events he witnesses – can you imagine such an idea ever being OK'd? Hopefully the recent murders, punishment crimes and the massive bank robbery will have served to show the US that Northern Ireland terrorist groups are no different, regardless of what this film tries to show. The bias and care taken to win the extremist support is even shown in how the film has an entire subplot with Tom's partner and a bad shooting to show how Tom will turn his back on people when it is "the right thing to do" – thus in part excusing him for eventually having to take a stand against Francis and, by default, the IRA.

    Maybe it is unfair to rip at this film for being totally irresponsible, insulting and truly offensive to me personally and the thousands who have died and the countless who continue to suffer under the self-proclaimed authority of these groups; no, maybe it is unfair to watch this as anything other than the piece of entertainment that it is. However even on this level the film is rubbish; it drags, has no sense of realism, nothing to emotionally involve you in the characters and a total lack of pace. The action is overblown, stupid and lacking excitement; meanwhile the narrative is plodding in both development and delivery.

    With all this going on and the rumours of massive onset fights, one could perhaps forgive the cast for being awful but what can't be forgiven is Brad Pitts' accent. It is about the worst I've heard and those who defend it have simply not talked to enough people from Northern Ireland. It's only one of his problems though and he can't make a character that works out of the mess he has been handed. Ford is sturdy and seems to be off in his own little movie for part of the film – in fairness he is probably the strongest bit of the film but that isn't saying a lot. Support from Blades, Williams, McElhone and others all comes to nothing and they certainly can do nothing to stop the rot.

    Overall this is a terrible film that is not only a poor piece of entertainment but an offensive treatment of a complex situation that involves politics and terrorists. I won't harp on about it but I hope that those who think I'm over the top will stick with me for one more moment. During September 1992 (when the film shows a raging gun battle between the evil army and a band of freedom fighters/IRA) the following people lost their lives in the struggles (ages in brackets): Peter McBride (18), Samuel Rice (30), Charlie Fox (63), Tess Fox (53), Michael Macklin (31), Leonard Fox (50), Gerard O'Hara (18) and Harry Black (27). All of these 8 people were civilians. One of them was a suspected member of a terrorist group and one was a former member of the UVF but the other six had little or no connections (Charlie & Tess Fox were shot because their son was in the IRA). Only one of the 8 was killed by the British Army and, to counter the depiction of the British officer coldly killing the terrorist without any comeback it should be noted that the shooting of McBride by a UK soldier ended with the two soldiers involved being sentenced to life in prison. Be careful of what Hollywood feeds you – have your own mind…these are real people, not an action movie.
    helpful•53
    52
    • bob the moo
    • Apr 19, 2005

    Top picks

    Sign in to rate and Watchlist for personalized recommendations
    Sign in

    Details

    Edit
    • Release date
      • March 26, 1997 (United States)
    • Country of origin
      • United States
    • Languages
      • English
      • Spanish
    • Also known as
      • Bản Chất Tội Ác
    • Filming locations
      • Clogherhead, County Louth, Ireland
    • Production company
      • Columbia Pictures
    • See more company credits at IMDbPro

    Box office

    Edit
    • Budget
      • $90,000,000 (estimated)
    • Gross US & Canada
      • $42,868,348
    • Opening weekend US & Canada
      • $14,274,503
      • Mar 30, 1997
    • Gross worldwide
      • $140,807,547
    See detailed box office info on IMDbPro

    Technical specs

    Edit
    • Runtime
      1 hour 51 minutes
    • Color
      • Color
    • Sound mix
      • SDDS
      • Dolby Digital
    • Aspect ratio
      • 2.39 : 1

    Related news

    Contribute to this page

    Suggest an edit or add missing content
    Brad Pitt and Harrison Ford in The Devil's Own (1997)
    Top Gap
    What is the streaming release date of The Devil's Own (1997) in Mexico?
    Answer
    • See more gaps
    • Learn more about contributing
    Edit page

    More to explore

    Recently viewed

    Please enable browser cookies to use this feature. Learn more.
    Get the IMDb App
    Sign in for more accessSign in for more access
    • Get the IMDb App
    • Help
    • Site Index
    • IMDbPro
    • Box Office Mojo
    • IMDb Developer
    • Press Room
    • Advertising
    • Jobs
    • Conditions of Use
    • Privacy Policy
    • Your Ads Privacy Choices
    IMDb, an Amazon company

    © 1990-2023 by IMDb.com, Inc.