The Devil's Own (1997)

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 (story), David Aaron Cohen (screenplay)

Stars:

Harrison Ford, Brad Pitt, Margaret Colin

1 nomination.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Harrison Ford	...	Tom O'Meara
Brad Pitt	...	Rory Devaney
Margaret Colin	...	Sheila O'Meara
Rubén Blades	...	Edwin Diaz (as Ruben Blades)
Treat Williams	...	Billy Burke
George Hearn	...	Peter Fitzsimmons
Mitchell Ryan	...	Chief Jim Kelly
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

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 or a lifetime of murder.

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Plot Keywords:

terrorist | murder | police officer | northern ireland | friendship | 

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Taglines:

They come from different worlds. They fight for different causes. Now, two men from opposite sides of the law are about to go to war.

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Genres:

Action | Crime | Drama | Thriller

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for strong brutal violence, and for language

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

26 March 1997 (USA)

Also Known As:

Enemigo íntimo

Filming Locations:

Manhattan, New York City, New York, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$90,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$14,274,503, 30 March 1997

Gross USA:

$42,868,348

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$140,807,547

Company Credits

Production Co:

Columbia Pictures

Technical Specs

Runtime:

111 min

Sound Mix:

SDDS Dolby Digital

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.39 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Gordon Willis last film as cinematographer before his retirement.

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Goofs

In the pool game scene Frankie sinks the orange stripe ball (the thirteen ball) three times on his run to sinking the eight ball. Of course this might be the rules of this one particular bar, but that's a stretch.

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Quotes

[first lines]
Frankie's Mother: How was your day?
Frankie's Father: It was a bit cold.

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Connections

Referenced in Hamlet (2000)

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Soundtracks

Trouble Brother
Written by Robert Bradley
Performed by Robert Bradley's Blackwater Surprise
Courtesy of The RCA Records Label of BMG Entertainment

User Reviews

An obvious trap

Given the plot (IRA-terrorism and its liaisons with the US) this film must be judged at two levels. The first level is that of the entertaining value. Pakula borrows a heavy political theme, simplifies all and everyone and makes out of it a 2 hour show, including a bag pipe score and all the other cliches you can possibly think of ("My father was a fisherman"). At this level, the film deserves 7 out of 10. In some comments the heroism in this film is convicted. There I agree. We now come to the second level. This is not a serious movie about the IRA and its "politics", simply because it's naive and CONSCIOUSLY simplifies complex matters. More over, the whole matter is brought over to the US, where it looses all sharp edges. What we actually see is an action movie with a nice, good looking guy who, for the sake of us all, kills an illegal weapon deliverer. We forget that he (i.e. we don't forget, it's Pakulas way of portraying his main character) actually is a real IRA-terrorist - a brain washed brutal soldier murderer, thinking this is a way of serving justice and truth. Hollywood, in the end, makes them all look bad. Pakula is no exception.