Sleepers (1996) on Netflix
Four boys in Hell's Kitchen run errands for the gangster King Benny. A stolen hot dog cart injures a man, and the boys are sent to the Wilkinson Home for Boys.
- Netflix3.9/5
- IMDb7.5/10258,055 votes
- Rotten Tomatoes73%
Trailer
Plot summary
In the summer of 1967, Lorenzo "Shakes" Carcaterra, Tommy Marcano, Michael Sullivan and John Reilly are boys growing up in Hell's Kitchen, Manhattan, where they run small errands for the gangster King Benny. They steal a hot dog cart that rolls down a set of subway stairs and severely injures a man, and Shakes weighs running off rather than face prosecution. Father Bobby Carillo urges him to admit his wrongs, and a judge sends all four to the Wilkinson Home for Boys in Upstate New York. There, head guards Sean Nokes, Henry Addison, Ralph Ferguson and Adam Styler beat, humiliate and sexually abuse the boys.
Cast
Did you know?!Facts and trivia about Sleepers (1996)
Can contain spoilers, watch the movie first.
- Lorenzo Carcaterra first submitted the manuscript of his book Sleepers to Ballantine Books, which immediately attracted interest from multiple film companies. Propaganda Films obtained the movie rights for $2.1 million at an auction in February 1995, and Barry Levinson was attached as director days later, opting to write the screenplay himself.
- The first words spoken in the film are: this is a true story about friendship that runs deeper than blood. Its accuracy was challenged by the Sacred Heart of Jesus Church and School in Manhattan, the school Carcaterra attended, and by the Manhattan District Attorney's office.
- Kevin Bacon was approached by Levinson to play Sean Nokes because they had previously worked together on Diner, and he did not read the book until after accepting the role. Because of the logistics of filming, Bacon did not meet De Niro or Dustin Hoffman until the film's premiere in Venice.
- Emilio Estevez was cast as John Riley but was already involved in three movies that year, and Sandra Bullock was cast as Carol Martinez but was already committed to A Time to Kill and was replaced by Minnie Driver.
- In response to the fast pace of the production process, Ballantine scheduled the book to be released around the same time that De Niro and Pitt were cast, in August 1995.
