The Devil's Own (26 March 1997)
directed by Alan J. Pakula
starring Harrison Ford, Brad Pitt, Margaret Colin, Rubén Blades, Treat Williams, George Hearn, Mitch Ryan, Simon Jones, Julia Stiles, David O'Hara
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MPAA rating: Studio: Columbia Pictures Script: David Aaron Cohen, Kevin Jarre, Vincent Patrick Music: James Horner Running time: 110 minutes Tags: Drama; IRA; Ireland; murder; New York City; police; Politics; terrorism Tactical strength: [5/10]
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for strong brutal violence and for language
Tom O'Meara (Harrison Ford), a New York cop, takes Rory Devaney (Brad Pitt) into his home, offering the youth a place to get away from the violence in Ireland and make a clean start in America. Of course, Rory has come to America to purchase Stinger missiles for the IRA. Trouble breaks out when Rory holds back his payment to his American arms dealer. The arms dealer sends a squad of men to Tom home to try to find Rory's money. As more facts come to the surface, Tom decides that to protect his family he must find and arrest Rory. Rory pretty much sums up The Devil's Own when he tells Tom that Tom shouldn't look for a happy ending to Rory's story, because it's an Irish story.
The film tries to make Rory somewhat sympathetic by telling the story of how eight-year-old Rory had to watch his father's murder in their home, by showing Rory's love interest with an Irish girl, and his loyalty to his fellow IRA members. But these sympathetic gestures pale in comparison to Rory's careless attitude toward killing or painfully wounding anyone who gets in his way.
Ford and Pitt have enough charisma and talent to carry most of the scenes, but by the end, all the scenes don't make a very satisfying, or even logical, plot.
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