The Devil’s Own * (1997, Harrison Ford, Brad Pitt, Margaret Colin, Rubén Blades, Treat Williams, George Hearn, Mitchell Ryan, Natascha McElhone, Julia Stiles) – Classic Movie Review 7884

Director Alan J Pakula’s The Devil’s Own (1997) is a poor and diabolically misguided action crime drama using the IRA, gunmen and terrorism as a subject for thriller entertainment.

Brad Pitt makes the mistake of playing deadly assassin IRA Frankie McGuire, sent to the US to buy weapons and unwittingly housed as a guest with the family of New York cop Tom O’Meara (Harrison Ford). The duo start a surprising friendship, but, after a while, O’Meara begins suspecting McGuire’s identity.

At his most handsome, Pitt plays the gunman attractively and charismatically, producing a sympathetic portrait of the deadly assassin, which is a big problem and real worry.

To be fair, Pitt wanted to leave the production, but was threatened by a lawsuit. In Newsweek, Pitt called the film a disaster and said: ‘It was the most irresponsible bit of film-making – if you can even call it that – that I’ve ever seen. I couldn’t believe it.’

The original script was discarded and there were at least seven rewrites. Pitt called the final version a mess. ‘The script that I had loved was gone. I guess people just had different visions and you can’t argue with that. But then I wanted out and the studio head said “All right, we’ll let you out, but it’ll be $63 million for starters.”‘

And simply judged as a thriller, is is creaky, unexciting and unconvincing, as unconvincing as Pitt’s ‘Irish’ accent. In a low-key performance, a gruff and growling Ford comes off best, but it isn’t worth $20 million.

Also in the cast are Margaret Colin, Rubén Blades, Treat Williams, George Hearn, Mitchell Ryan, Natascha McElhone, Julia Stiles and Kelly Singer.

Ford also worked with Pakula on Presumed Innocent (1990).

It is Pakula’s final film before his death in a road accident on 19 November 1998 and director of photography Gordon Willis’s last film as cinematographer. He is best remembered for The Godfather, The Godfather: Part II, Annie Hall (1977), Manhattan (1979), Zelig (1983) and The Godfather: Part III (1990).

It cost $86,000,000, fuelled by Ford’s $20 million salary and Pitt’s $12 million pay check. and flopped, grossing only $42,868,000 in the US and $81,500,000 worldwide.

© Derek Winnert 2018 Classic Movie Review 7884

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