Enemigo íntimo

What is it with American-Irish? Some of their richest and most respectable members have poured millions of Dollars into the IRA, harboured some of their members, idealised the notion of a "fight for freedom". Believe me, as a Scot, with William Wallace et al I've always had a certain affinity for heroes. But the IRA are no heroes. They've become Northern Ireland's drug-dealers, extortioners, gangsters. The people of Ireland as whole have had enough of them and their way of terrorising innocent people. May it be the IRA or the UDP, the notion of a Catholic V Protestant jihad has long ago turned into a simple cycle of self-perpetuating violence. These men and women are no longer anything resembling the oh-so glorious Michael Collins, they are terrorists who don't know when to quit and never knew anything but how to fight. These men aren't the Brad Pitts of the world, nor is the British Army an oppressor anymore (considering that over 90% of the locals support the Army, simply because it provides protection). Yet in 1997 we still got the great toss of this movie, showing us how brave Irishmen fight against an onslaught of British stormtroopers and evil S(I)S men. Somehow it seems that America is hell-bent on keeping up the idea of the stiff upper-lip English villain. May it be The Devil's Own, Braveheart, U-571 or most recently The Patriot, Hollywood seems bent on demonising the US' closest ally, both politically and culturally. I may not be a great fan of the English, but even I know what harm stereotypes can do. Perhaps the writer should have gone out to the streets of Belfast and asked ordinary people what they think of the IRA. Perhaps the writer should have also approached a soldier and asked him what it's like to occupy Northern Ireland. Somehow, I have severe doubts that a movie about the post-WW2 SS-"Werwölfe" guerillas would be quite so romanticised.

And this movie has a Riverdance sequence. Oh please....

I say this making no pretense at completely understanding the Irish conflict myself (you'd have to ask someone with experience of Belfast for a more authentic take on the situation), but the irresponsible way the troubles were used here as a backdrop to what is supposed entertainment staggers me. It isn't as if it needed this detail; the terrorist could have been from any unspecified organisation. In the incompetent handling of sensitive issues that the makers really have no idea of, the production team involved in this really have let themselves down. Brad Pitt realised this too late and henceforth disowned the film, a fact which made me admire and respect him even more.

For this I wanted to hate the film, and yet found myself unable to. Beneath the misbegotten attempts at 'political comment', there is a decent little thriller struggling to get out. Pitt is great as the terrorist (dodgy accent aside) and Ford is as reliable as ever in the role of the honest cop. Director Pakula keeps the story moving at all times and stages the action well. Despite all these pluses, I constantly felt uncomfortable at the ways in which the script tried to manipulate my sympathies. While it's not quite enough to make me downgrade the film on an enjoyment level, it loses big points from an ethical perspective. Shame on you Tinseltown.

Frankie McGuire (Brad Pitt) is one of the IRA's deadliest assassins. But when he is sent to the United States to buy weapons, specifically Stinger missiles, Frankie stays with the family of Tom O'Meara (Harrison Ford), a New York police officer who is happily married to Sheila (Margaret Colin) with children , but all of them know nothing about Frankie's true identity. A surprising friendship emerges, but Tom's growing suspicions force Frankie to choose between the promise of peace or a life of murder. A man trapped by destiny and another bound by duty! They are about to discover why they are willing to fight and die. They come from different worlds. They fight for different causes. Now, two men from opposite sides of the law are about to go to war !.

An interesting thriller on the typical theme of hidden identity, as a police officer discovers the true identity of his guest in the house, a member of the I. R. A. Hidden terrorist. This is more of a detailed character study, trying to explore the reasons why the protagonists act the way they do, rather than the typical action movie. This is a good suspense drama devised by screenwriter Kevin Jarre (Glory) and well directed by Alan J. Pakula in which an interpretive duel is established between two of the biggest screen stars belonging to two different generations: Harrison Ford (Patriotic Games, Star Wars, Sabrina) and Brad Pitt (Seven, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, Legends of the fall), the latter doing his usual job as an honest patrol cop who gets caught up in bad situations. Harrison Ford was paid $20 million to star in the film and Brad Pitt earned $12 million; the difference in salaries came because the status of first big star was higher for Ford who had recently played the successful Indiana Jones sequels, while Brad Pitt did not yet have the status that he would subsequently achieve. They are well accompanied by a good supporting cast with some familiar faces, such as: Margaret Colin, Rubén Blades, Treat Williams, George Hearn, Mitchell Ryan, David O'Hara and Natascha McElhone.

This features an evocative musical score by prestigious composer James Horner who strives to give the film a tone full of Irish sounds. Adding colorful and appropriate photography by the classic cameraman Gordon Willis who photographed The Godfather and other very important films. This gripping story was professionally directed by Alan J. Pakula, although it has some cracks and is a bit slow. Alan J. Pakula was chosen to direct because he was the only person both Harrison Ford and Brad Pitt agreed should do it, but it turned out to be the last film Pakula finished before his death caused by a car accident. This compelling American film director, writer and producer was nominated for three Academy Awards: Best Picture for "To Kill a Mockingbird" (1962), Best Director for "All the President's Men" (1976) and Best Adapted Screenplay for ¨Sophie's Choice¨ (1982). His producing business partner in the 1950s and 1960s was Robert Mulligan. Pakula was always very supportive of his cast and had a reputation as an "actor's director." He achieved several hits such as ¨The Devil's Shadow¨, ¨Pelican Report¨, ¨Presumed Innocent¨, ¨Sophie's Choice¨, ¨Klute¨ and some failures such as ¨Starting Over¨, ¨See You in the Morning¨ and ¨ The last witness¨ or ¨The Parallax View¨. Rating: 7/10. It is worth seeing and being better than average thanks to the magnificent performances of Harrison Ford and Brad Pitt.

Starring big stars Harrison Ford and Brad Pitt The Devil's Own is a strange film- While The Devil's Own doesn't do a spectacular job of fulfilling the promise of its cast or its complex politics-and-guns premise, it is nevertheless reasonably well-paced. The less intently you watch this movie, the greater the chance that you'll be pleased by it. Unfortunately, if you're paying attention, it won't take long to notice that very little of the last act holds together. That sort of high-tension, mind-numbing climax makes it difficult for me to retain more than token enthusiasm for the production as a whole. Pitt and Ford do credible jobs as Frankie and Tom. Despite his character's brutal, bloody past, Pitt manages to capture our sympathy, in large part because, aside from the killings, Frankie seems like a likable sort of guy. Ford, in a role that's a far cry from the cocky Han Solo, recalls Jack Ryan, the protagonist of Patriot Games and Clear and Present Danger -- a hero whose armor is just a little too shiny.

There seems to be a certain template for making "Oirish" movies in Hollywood. Add some or all of the following ingredients to your movie script - Aran Sweaters, a sub-Deliverance rural setting, comely maidens with red hair, a village idiot (teeth optional), impromptu céilís and dancing at the crossroads, priests, drunken violence and the obligatory "Ooh arr, begorrah" accents and you have an Irish film. And if you want some controversy, why not try to tackle the situation in Northern Ireland by adding in some IRA men for good measure. Unfortunately, the Devil's Own has quite a few of the aforementioned clichés in abundance.

It is a great shame that with a cast and director of this calibre, they couldn't have come up with something better. There have been very few, if any, decent films ever made about Northern Ireland and perhaps it's time Hollywood stopped trying to put forward its own take on it, especially when it is as cack-handed as The Devil's Own. Not only is the whole movie grossly offensive to Irish people, and anyone else with a brain, but it is a dangerous message to be sending out to gullible Irish Americans. It's time film-makers stopped buying into the idea that the IRA are noble warriors when in fact they and others of their ilk are terrorists, pure and simple.

Avoid this like the plague. Brad Pitt's accent is the least of the problems in this film. He just isn't convincing as the cold-blooded killer he is supposed to be - he's far too nice. Harrison Ford is his usual reliable self but too much of the movie is taken up with a largely irrelevant sub-plot featuring himself and Ruben Blades as his police partner. At times, The Devil's Own seems like an IRA film mixed up with NYPD Blue.