- Title: USA: BARRY LEVINSON'S 'SLEEPERS' PREMIERES IN LOS ANGELES
- Date: 11th October 1996
- Summary: LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA, UNITED STATES (OCTOBER 11, 1996) (RTV - ACCESS ALL) EXTERIOR OF THEATRE/ "SLEEPERS" FILM POSTER PHOTOGRAPHERS DIRECTOR OF "SLEEPERS" BARRY LEVINSON ARRIVING BRAD RENFRO, JOE PERRINO, JONATHON TUCKER AND GEOFFREY WIGDOR, ARRIVING GEORGE CLOONEY ARRIVING CLOONEY SAYING WELL JASON AND RON ARE BOTH REALLY GOOD FRIENDS OF MINE SO I CANT WAIT TO SE
- Embargoed: 26th October 1996 13:00
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- Location: LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA, UNITED STATES/ FILM CLIPS
- Country: USA
- Reuters ID: LVA79TCHCOU3ECC5SM7CBDXEU1E1
- Story Text: Barry Levinson's movie "Sleepers," which opens on the weekend, had its premiere in Los Angeles on Friday (October 11) night, attracting a star-studded crowd.
Some of the film's young stars including Brad Renfro, Joe Perrino, Jonathan Tucker and Geoffrey Wigdor, as well as Jason Patric, Billy Crudup, Minnie Driver, Frank Medrano and Ron Eldard attended the event.
At the premiere, Levinson said it was difficult filming in the busy streets of New York. "When you've got a period film that goes from the sixties to the eighties and you've got to take all the cars off the street and dress everyone and change store fronts, logistically it's difficult dealing with that much congestion on the street and having control over it." He added that all the trouble met during shooting was worth it in the end because it gave the movie its atmosphere, "There's a flavour to New York that's in this movie. Because it takes place in Hell's Kitchen we needed the feeling of the city and how it influences." Sleepers is the story of four boys who grew up together in the rough-and-tumble streets of New York City's Hell's Kitchen.
Friends, pranksters and altar boys, they roam the neighborhood with little interference from their families.
But one day, a practical joke turns tragic and lands the four boys in a reform school for sentences of between nine and 18 months. In neighborhood slang, the length of their terms - more than nine months - earned them the title of "sleepers." Despite the crime and corruption of Hell's Kitchen, nothing prepares the boys for the physical and emotional torture that awaits them at the Wilkinson Home for Boys.
Abused under the sadistic leadership of a guard named Sean Nokes, played by Kevin Bacon, the boys are irreparable damaged - betrayed by a system that offered them no protection and allowed the guards to go unpunished.
Fifteen years after their release, the boys have gone their seperate ways. Lorenzo, played by Jason Patric, is a reporter for the New York Daily News; Michael, played by Brad Pitt, earned a law degree and became an Assistant District Attorney; while Tommy and John, played by Billy Crudup and Ron Eldard, are hardened neighborhood hit men and drug addicts.
One night, Tommy and John stumble across their former jailer in a restaurant and gun him down in cold blood in full view of the other diners.
Seizing an opportunity for revenge, Michael proposes a daring plan to deliver justice and free his former friends from penal punishment.
Pitt says he understands completely his character's need for revenge, "I've never been through something as terrifying as this, and I guarantee you if something like this had happened to me or one of mine, or my family, I'd feel much stronger about it. I'm not sure what I'd be capable of." Michael's plan depends on the co-operation of two men: Father Bobby, played by Robert DeNiro and Danny Snyder, played by Dustin Hoffman, an inept, substance-addicted lawyer.
Hoffman said he admires the way Levinson tackled the direction of the film. "It's a little like painting, where you can watch him paint in front of the camera," he said. "He's the only director I've worked with that does that," he added.
Levinson is best known for his Oscar-winning work on the Tom Cruise/Dustin Hoffman film "Rain Man." He also directed the films "Disclosure," "Avalon," "Diner," "Bugsy," and "Good Morning Vietnam." "Sleepers" is based on the best-selling novel by author Lorenzo Carcaterra, who based his book on his own real-life experiences growing up in Hell's Kitchen. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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