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
- Writers
- Kevin Jarre(story)
- David Aaron Cohen(screenplay)
- Vincent Patrick(screenplay)
- Stars
Top credits
- Director
- Writers
- Kevin Jarre(story)
- David Aaron Cohen(screenplay)
- Vincent Patrick(screenplay)
- Stars
- Awards
- 1 nomination
Videos3
Ashley Acarino
- Morgan O'Mearaas Morgan O'Meara
- (as Ashley Carin)
- Director
- Writers
- Kevin Jarre(story) (screenplay)
- David Aaron Cohen(screenplay)
- Vincent Patrick(screenplay)
- All cast & crew
- See more cast details at IMDbPro
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. —Robert Lynch <docrlynch@yahoo.com>
- 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.
- Genres
- Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)
- Rated R for strong brutal violence, and for language
- Parents guide
Did you know
- TriviaBrad 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".)
- GoofsTom pursues Frankie up the indoor stairs and then outside across the roof and down the sixteen foot wall, where Frankie escapes past a building. Given that there was no ladder and nothing on which to climb, how did Tom get up the 16-foot wall to get back inside?
- ConnectionsFeatured in At the Movies: Liar Liar/The Graduate/Selena/Crash/Kolya (1997)
Top review
It's not an American stoory, it's an Oirish oon!
A large part of Brad Pitt's genius as a movie star is his ability to pick scripts. "The Devil's Own" certainly indicates a lapse in judgment, but to a Hollywood tough guy, an IRA role is irresistible. You get a leather jacket, a ski mask, a machine gun and a cool accent. The Ulster accent is, as every movie star knows, very easy to master: just randomly scramble your vowel sounds, say "fook's seek" frequently--and you're Oirish!
But far more laughable than the accents are the action scenes, which are so badly choreographed and edited, it's hard to believe the film is a Hollywood product. First there is Sean and Frankie's shootout with "half the fookin' army," which they win. Then they escape because the British forget to watch the back door. Also, there is the mysterious appearance of a vast forest in the middle of downtown Belfast, into which IRA terrorists can easily escape when cornered. Next there is the shootout with Billy Burke, in which Frankie somehow manages to fire three rounds from a double-barrelled shotgun (taking out a sniper who, oddly enough, falls forward from the impact of a shot in the chest), retrieves his pistol and fires the same shot twice--hitting Billy Burke, who for some reason counted to ten before lunging for his own gun.
The biggest mistake was in casting Harrison Ford, a lead man who commands $20,000,000 per film, and putting him in a supporting role, which of course had to be rewritten and elevated to a co-lead. The result: instead of a film about an IRA terrorist who comes to the States to buy munitions (which is a good precept), we get a film about a New York cop who's got an IRA terrorist living in his basement. Anyone who initially proposed such a story to the studio would have been turned down, and that would have been fortunate for all involved.
In fairness to Pitt, he did try to walk away from the project, and in order to save face, ridiculed the movie before it hit the theaters, which suggests that he had more sense than anyone else on the set.
But far more laughable than the accents are the action scenes, which are so badly choreographed and edited, it's hard to believe the film is a Hollywood product. First there is Sean and Frankie's shootout with "half the fookin' army," which they win. Then they escape because the British forget to watch the back door. Also, there is the mysterious appearance of a vast forest in the middle of downtown Belfast, into which IRA terrorists can easily escape when cornered. Next there is the shootout with Billy Burke, in which Frankie somehow manages to fire three rounds from a double-barrelled shotgun (taking out a sniper who, oddly enough, falls forward from the impact of a shot in the chest), retrieves his pistol and fires the same shot twice--hitting Billy Burke, who for some reason counted to ten before lunging for his own gun.
The biggest mistake was in casting Harrison Ford, a lead man who commands $20,000,000 per film, and putting him in a supporting role, which of course had to be rewritten and elevated to a co-lead. The result: instead of a film about an IRA terrorist who comes to the States to buy munitions (which is a good precept), we get a film about a New York cop who's got an IRA terrorist living in his basement. Anyone who initially proposed such a story to the studio would have been turned down, and that would have been fortunate for all involved.
In fairness to Pitt, he did try to walk away from the project, and in order to save face, ridiculed the movie before it hit the theaters, which suggests that he had more sense than anyone else on the set.
helpful•6035
- meisterpuck
- Jul 20, 2000
Details
Box office
- 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
- Runtime1 hour 51 minutes
- Color
- Sound mix
- Aspect ratio
- 2.39 : 1
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