The Devil's Own

There is nothing particularly pleasant about Irish history, but in movies, books like Angela's Ashes, or just straight pop culture (St. Patrick's Day is right around the corner!), there is often a romantic portrayal of an idyllic, romantic country that seems dropped here from another world. The lush, green landscapes, the thick Irish brogue, the people so full of life, it's all played up. From an Irish family, I know some about the history, but in terms of violence and chaos, Irish history is something else.

The IRA -- the Irish Republican Army -- is one of those things I've always been aware of without ever knowing much about it.  Depending on how you look at the situation that caused their creation, the IRA were freedom fighters who undertook a guerilla war against the British government in the 1910s and 1920s, but still exist today in different forms.  Just like Ireland itself, there is a romanticism involved in the portrayal of the IRA and their actions while others view them as murdering, despicable terrorists. I guess it all just depends on your beliefs/principles going in.  If nothing else, some movies try to be fair with a somewhat balanced portrayal, like 1997's The Devil's Own.

After watching his father get brutally gunned down in front of him, Frankie McGuire grows up with a hatred inside him, eventually joining the IRA and becoming one of their most notorious enforcers, wanted by the British army, intelligence community, and law enforcement. After years of making a reputation for himself, 28-year old Frankie (Brad Pitt) is on the run, the rest of the men in his unit getting picked off one-by-one. In desperate need of some help to fight back, he heads from Belfast to New York City, using some pull in the IRA to stay with an NYPD cop, Tom O'Meara (Harrison Ford), and his family while he waits on a shipment of Stinger missiles. O'Meara knows nothing of Frankie's background, but bonds quickly with the young Irishman, welcoming into his family.  But Frankie's reputation may put them all on the grid and in danger before he can complete his mission.

Thankfully dealing with an IRA enforcer as a main character, director Alan J. Pakula (his last movie before he died in 1998) doesn't paint this story in black and white, good and bad. Instead, there are shades of gray that force the characters in the movie to make difficult decisions while also making the viewer make a decision. Is Pitt's enforcer a villain or a hero? He kills in a cause he believes, but does that make it right?  The same for Ford's NYPD patrol sergeant. As a longtime member of the force, he prides himself on always being a fair, honest cop. He does what's right and is proud of it. But when his partner (Ruben Blades) makes a questionable call in the field, he's forced to make a difficult choice that goes against everything he believes and has worked for. We're not talking deep, biting analysis of the two stars, but enough to keep it interesting.

Playing on a movie convention as old as movies themselves, Pakula hitches this movie up to Ford and Pitt in the starring roles. The convention is basically a sure thing when handled right, two men with different backgrounds working or living together, bonding through their previously unknown similarities, and then being forced into a tricky situation that will pit them against each other, testing their friendship. Ford is the older, wiser mentor of sorts while Pitt is the young hot shot. Pakula tweaks the familiar formula with Pitt's younger character actually having the darker side, the history of over 20 killings as an enforcer. Ford's O'Meara, a 23-year veteran of the force, has fired his gun four times in the line of duty but has never shot anyone. So with the familiar big brother-little brother, father-son relationship, there is a wild card in the relationship.

No matter the type of story -- drama or comedy, action or romance -- it is always fun to see stars from different generations work together in film.  Ford was the established star here with Indiana Jones, Star Wars, The Fugitive all under his belt.  Pitt on the other hand was the rising star, still finding himself and what roles worked and didn't work.  So much like their roles in real life, the two bona-fide stars play off each other well.  The best, strongest part of the movie is this relationship that develops between them. If it doesn't work or feels forced, the movie is going to sink with it. It does work. No matter their backgrounds, both men are good men who have their personal beliefs, their principles they live by. It's just a matter of how far they're willing to go to prove these things.

What's missing though is some sort of heart as the story develops.  You like the characters (or I did), but the story kept me at a distance.  There's nothing that unique about it, and you know where it's going long before it gets there.  SPOILERS STOP READING SPOILERS If there was any doubt, Pitt's character is the tragic character, the doomed man who will no doubt end up dying bloody.  The ending still disappoints even knowing how it's going to end. Ford and Pitt have a great scene together in the finale that almost saves things but not completely.  END OF SPOILERS As for the rest of the cast, Blades is okay as Ford's longtime partner, Treat Williams is generically bad as a businessman/arms dealer working with Pitt, Margaret Colin as O'Meara's wife, Mitch Ryan as the police chief, and Natascha McElhone as Megan, Frankie's contact and possible love interest.  Composer James Horner also has a typically solid, very moving/appropriate and heavily Irish themed score. Overall, a slightly above average movie that had potential to be better but is still worth a watch.

The Devil's Own <---trailer (1997): ** 1/2 /****