The Devil’s Own

UK Release Date. 20 June 1997
Certification. 15
Running Time. 1 hour 51 mins
Director. Alan J. Pakula
Cast. Margaret Colin, Harrison Ford, Natascha McElhone, Brad Pitt, Julia Stiles, Treat Williams.
Rating. 48%

Review.

The Devil’s Own ultimately proved to be Alan J. Pakula’s final film before he tragically died in car crash in 1998.

The film opens with a spectacular firefight on the streets of Belfast between IRA terrorists, including Frankie McGuire (Brad Pitt) and a garrison of the British Army. From this intense opening, McGuire flees to New York and takes refuge with unwitting police sergeant, Tom O’Meara (Harrison Ford) and his family. 

Although far from his best work, the director of Klute, All The President’s Men and Sophie’s Choice does provide the film with a quality veneer. Pakula has the experience to recognise the best assets at his disposal, and attempts to keep the focus on Ford and Pitt throughout, entrusting them to do the heavy lifting. 

Although well constructed, The Devil's Own is a film that plays out in slow motion. A leaden tale of moral conflict. Initially, The Devil's Own establishes an engrossing atmosphere, but the film begins to palpably fizzle out at the hour mark, as the growing emphasis on Tom's suspicions is hardly as gripping as Pakula surely intended. Too much time is spent corroborating what a decent man Tom O'Meara is with twee family gatherings. Equally, by relegating the terrorism to the sidelines, it becomes increasingly problematic to accept Pitt as the cold-hearted killer, Frankie McGuire. It doesn’t help either that the conclusion is woefully anticlimactic. 

Almost 30 years on, The Devil's Own hasn't aged particularly well. Mainstream Hollywood Studios rarely grasped the political sensitivity of the region - for every In The Name Of The Father, Michael Collins or The Wind That Shakes The Barley, there's a Prayer For The Dying, Patriot Games or Blown Away.