The Sleepers

Want to read the rest of this paper? Join Essayworld today to view this entire essay and over 50,000 other term papers

little thrill in watching the retaliation put in by the protagonists of this film because Sleepers approaches its subject with a conscience. It had a great emotional impact. The audience couldn't help but feel sympathetic toward these four boys who had to go through such terrible events. The movie's moral scope is Father Bobby(Robert De Niro), a Catholic priest who knows that friendship and loyalty can involve expenses of the soul, but who doesn't walk lightly across the line untying what's legally correct from what's ethically directed.

In fact, Father Bobby's dilemma is arguably the most compelling aspect of Sleepers' second half. The film's sluggish final hour is its weakest portion, but there's still enough there to maintain audience interest. We've spent a long time with these characters, and we're not about to abandon them because Levinson doesn't move things as smoothly to the climax as we might prefer. We as an audience sort of fell in love with these characters who ...

Get instant access to over 50,000 essays. Write better papers. Get better grades. Already a member? Login

Nokes (Kevin Bacon), they are subjected to mental, physical, and sexual abuse. This angered the boys extremely and It wasn't pleasant for them. The boys had never dealt with a situation like this one. They were frightened and terrified by what had happened . It wasn't the easiest problem to deal with. The boys were forced to perform dirty acts which would scar them for life. The horrible memories that will never leave. It is devastating.

Although their sentences are only for a year, those twelve months fundamentally alter their personalities. When we next meet them, in 1981, their lives have moved on, but the submerged hatred lingers. This was a major emotion in the film. Hatred ...

Succeed in your coursework without stepping into a library. Get access to a growing library of notes, book reports, and research papers in 2 minutes or less.

CITE THIS PAGE: