Sleepers (1996) Reaction/Commentary (Request) 

I'm really surprised there are not more reactions to this film due to its emotional nature. I think this is the first one I can find.

Sleepers is such an amazing movie. You are watching some great movies that very few reactors are watching. The channels keeps getting cooler and cooler.

Thank you for reacting to this movie. It's one of my favorite revenge films and probably 1 of the best in my opinion. Also nobody on youtube reacts to this movie. it's way under appreciated

Hell of a film, a necessary film, as it is well known that abuse most certainly did happen. 56 yrs ago I personally experienced abuse from nuns when I was forced to go to Catechism summer school. Who the hell would believe an 11 yr old kid even if you tried to tell someone. Thanks for sharing this amazing well written and acted film.

Thank you for your service, Mike. Really enjoying your reactions and commentary.

Great reaction. One of the most underrated films ever made in my opinion.

Awesome reaction as always, and what a great movie! I hadn't seen this one in a long time, and it was nice not only getting to see it again but to watch with you.

I watch this movie when I was 21 years old...I'm 45 years old now...and this movie made me hate Kevin Bacon's face...that's how good an actor he is...this movie is third in my top five favourite movies.

Great reaction, I find it baffling how this movie is never reacted to or even acknowledged. Great story, Great cast, great acting. Perhaps the subject matter is too squeamish for some, which is a real shame.

This movie never won an award. If this movie would've been made today, I guarantee you it would've garnered so many nominations and awards. It really is up there with one of my favorite movies of all-time. Finally something that shows the world for what it really is. Honest defense attorneys either know nothing about the misdeeds of the Prosecutor's office or they just simply don't care, either way I'm a firm non-believer in The United States Justice System.

Really like this movie even though it’s a difficult subject. It was cast perfectly and I’m glad that almost all of those actors are still working. I have never hated Kevin Bacon more . He and the other guards were despicable. Thanks for reacting to this one.

30:04 never noticed him before... but thats Dr Chilton from Silence of the Lambs sat at the end of the bar. the end gets me every time.

I remember watching this a few times when it was first released. I totally blocked it out since then. I didn't realize that it was supposed to be based on a true story. I was always on the side of them getting revenge against the people who abused them. Morality aside, it felt good to see them get their comeuppance. I think it was a well crafted film, I liked all of the cloak and dagger side dealings. It's nice to see some forgotten gems get a little shine. Just an aside - gay and pedophile are two very different classes of people that shouldn't be conflated. Having a natural attraction and consenting relations with someone of the same sex is vastly different than what a pedophile is. There are sick twisted power and control dynamics involved and is not restricted to same sex abuse. I know you didn't mean it maliciously or anything, but that kind of thinking has been dangerous for people of the lgbt community. It just stuck with me when you said it.

Thank you so very much for reacting to this movie. I truly appreciate it. I watched it for the first time when it came out and it stuck with me for all these years. I´m saddened by the fact that no one reacts to it. It seems as if nobody is even aware that this great even exists and that is a shame. I have read the book it is based on. I don´t know if it describes true events or no. In the end it doesn´t matter to me. The movie is an incredible piece of art that managed to stay in my top 10 movie list for nearly 30 years. The same as Fried Green Tomatoes. My perspective on John and Tommy is that they were decent kids and the experience in Wilkerson broke them. All 4 kids were broken they just dealt very differently with it. Only Shakes was able to function somewhat ok afterwards despite his scars. The movie never says who the other people were who John and Tommy killed. Were they normal , decent people or mobsters? It is Irrelevant because this trial is about the murder of Nokes and no one else. Neither John nor Tommy deserved to get convicted of his murder since he has done worse to them.

This film is heavy for sure but an excellent watch. Great reaction, man. Another movie I’d recommend, if you haven’t seen it already, is _Legends of the Fall._ 46:11 DeNiro is such a fine actor. His character, just listening to someone, makes for such a compelling performance. 37:16 I think it’s ‘common knowledge’ kind of in the way that people ‘knew’ about Harvey Weinstein or even Bill Cosby. You know, kinda hearing whispers or rumours of certain people in the shared circles that people operate in. Really enjoyed your commentary at the end of the video, too. Yeah, there’s some definite grey area in there. I know I was absolutely rooting for them.

I have never seen anyone react to this movie, one of my favorites. Thank you so much for doing this. New subscriber

I had the same moment as you when I got to basic training. We pulled up in the bus from the airport and I looked at the girl next to me that I met at MEPS and said “What have we gotten ourselves into?”

Great reaction, I'm subscribing just because you've reacted to this phenomenal movie. I just wanted to comment on the question you asked about what are the chances of these pedophile men all working at the same time at the same place and is it believable? While this story in particular (names/year/school etc) is debated, it does indeed show brutality that many kids suffer. It is absolutely believable that all those men worked there because evil is attracted to positions of power, especially when vulnerable children are involved. There are hundreds of thousands of accounts, proven assaults, rumors, deathbed confessions etc etc throughout history and in every possible community, religious calling, family and careers, where predators have easily found each other and been drawn to similar paths whether professionally or personally. It really is all so believable which is the sickening part. This still happens today to so, so many children 😢

One of my favorite films, the message is deep but the ending is so epic! The characters are simply captivating! What a tragic story!

Whoever recommended this, he/she knows good movies!

i appreciate your attorney insight into films like these, it is a look behind the scenes that adds a lot. thank you.

This film is great, I loved it, in my opinion the story is too twisted to be made up.unfortunately there are too many monsters out there. If you like courtroom dramas like this on, again the authenticity of the stories is in question, check out “in the name of the father” and “murder in the first” both with phenomenal performances the first Daniel Dey-Lewis and the second Kevin Bacon gives the performance of his life.

This is such a slept on movie, (if you will pardon the pun.) A stacked cast with great performances. It also raises a moral argument. What are lives worth vs. a stolen childhood and mental scarring. Whether or not the story is based on a true story, it still hopefully raises scrutiny on people who are supposed to know how to safeguard and watch under age kids and are paid to do so.

Thank you, thank you, thank you! 💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜

Thanks for your comprehensive and detailed reaction to this movie. I saw it years ago. A tough watch and the subject matter is rough. I don't have trouble believing in the validity of the suggestion of abuse in the reform system. There are enough witness of past inmates in various similar circumstances to bear the truthfulness of it. Especially in past decades where there was less accountability and no one questioned the authorities. We now know of the abuse of children in orphanages and "reform" schools, the laundries in Ireland, the abuse scandals in the Catholic church, how it was covered up and hidden and continues to be hidden and denied even now. I felt for the defendants in this movie -- yes, in spite of the fact that they killed in revenge. It seemed that they were driven to their criminal acts by the savagery of what they had endured. Which, as the ending of the movie implied, was their eventual downfall and demise. The part of NYC where they grew up, Hell's Kitchen, owing to the pervasive mob presence and influence also moulded them to act in accordance with the concept of payback. Everyone in the film gave a stellar performance. The movie should have won an Oscar.

Another fantastic reaction! I haven't seen anyone else react to this movie. It's one of my favorites, but I ended up seeing it at too young of an age, and it was kind of traumatizing lol As an adult, I think it's heavy but fantastic! One of my favorite Robert DeNiro roles.

The movie sleepers is not for a family. It is an adult movie. No kids should watch it.

Never seen a reaction to this movie, thank you! If you haven't seen the movie Spotlight, that's one you should watch Subscribed!

All other reactors are missing this!!, great reaction and awesome movie !!!

Good film and also a good cheat code for Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon.

Thank you for reacting to this movie. This and the Count of Monte Cristo are in my top 10

Great reaction. One of the best movies I have ever seen.

Rape is not about sexuality or even sexual orientation. Rape is always about POWER. There are a lot of studies about this topic which came to the same result. The 4 guards aren´t necessarily gay. I don´t think they were. The movie explicitly states that only one of them, Addison (?) kept raping children even after Wilkerson. The others probably had hetrosexual relationships with adult women.

just found this channel and subbed thanks for the reaction.

Did you edit this video? You have great editing skills, not just the practical aspect but the creative aspect as well.

I'm really loving the editing, do you do it yourself?

One of the greatest films ever made... Truly... Resonates with me because i was in care and no one really sees the reality until its to late very powerful film and an amazing cast ❤.

Hey Mike, The Departed is a great film to check out next. Enjoyed this reaction a lot

Carcaterra wrote a brilliant story. He tried to make it real. Even though it clearly wasn't. He should've just presented it as fiction.

In the book Adam styler goes to prison for 12 years but they made 4 attempts on his life and left him paralyzed from the waist down he was released in the spring of 91 and now lives in a new Jersey suburbs in a home for the disabled

You have to read and watch The count of Monte Cristo

Barry Levinson is such an underappreciated filmmaker. Check out "Avalon" (1990). Beautiful, life-affirming story, much lighter in tone than this but very substantive.

One of the best movie ever!!!

The guy who wrote this says this is true saying he changed some things to protect his friends. Some people say it's not & he's lying.. even if this isn't true there are real stories like this that really happened

Liked and subscribed. Loved your reaction to this. Been waiting so long for someone to do this. And you should definitely watch The Count of Monte Cristo too. If it suits you, try J. Edgar and K-Pax - two other great movies nobody has reacted to on YT. Cheers!

43:55 ~ Maybe that's why they work there

This was a book before it was a movie. The author was one of the boys. It was supposed to be a true story about the cover up’s in these juvenile detention homes. I can’t remember the Authors name now, but I read the book before the movie came out. I chose to believe that it was more true than not. Being that I grew up in a Catholic School and environment in an area that was similar. It was a controversy at the time because certain people did not like the accusations. It is very sad, but so were the Catholic Priest Pedophiles that were finally confirmed and found out after that huge cover up. No matter if book and movie took liberties, you know this really happened and happens. Good Movie and better book!

I watched this film for the first time in my early twenties back in the early 2000s, and probably again a few months ago. My reaction was likely just the same as yours, or maybe a bit more on the edge as I was older now and, thus, understood more. Though a very dark and challenging film, this remains a great movie (and I say that lightly, given the themes of sexual and physical abuse of young boys).

Please React to ‘A Song For A Raggy Boy,’ ‘The Boys of St Vincent,’ and ‘Mysterious Skin.’ They’re all similar to this film and highly unexposed. People just don’t seem to care about us (male victims of CSA) and these films go against that ignorance. The first 2 are based on true stories but mysterious skin is not.

This is based on a true story however the state of New York denies it.

Been waiting for someone to react to this such a good movie I think I liked the kid actors more than their adult versions

Question: The Guard could’ve pleaded the 5th, yes or no?

Powerful movie...haven't seen this reacted to much at all.

While I do not appreciate the usual connection society makes between a history of abuse and a life of crime I do know in those circumstances we either turn the violence inside or out, Shakes and Michael managed to have "honest" lives but none of them was able to form steady, healthy relationships/attachments.I for one do not believe there is any exaggeration because I know when we go through things like that it is the exact opposite we "crave". I was 40 when I gathered the courage to tell my older sister about my mother's abuse and she didn't believe me, we haven't spoken for over 20 years. The way Brad Pitt twitches when he talks about Addison is exactly what someone in his situation would do. I do not think the guards were gay it was the absolute power they had over the kids that is "it" for pexxxphiles they would never look for an equal, someone with agency to say no. King Benny is played by brilliant italian actor Vittorio Gassman. You are the first channel I have seen react to this movie, sadly it will not age. Barry Levinson has a lot of great movies but I will mention "Rain Man" with Dustin Hoffman and Tom Cruise, "Good Morning Vietnam" which has Robin Williams being absolutely amazing and "Wag the Dog" again with Dustion Hoffman and de Niro a brilliant political satire that is timeless. Really liked your reaction.

You gotta do count of monte Cristo now. Great movie

I hope you kerp this up, there are some brilliant movies that are not SciFi ir Superhero Cowboys and Aliens… great stars in all these films Road to Perdition Mystic River Sum of All Fears Michael Clayton The Interpreter The Peacemaker

Brad Renfro I know mostly from Apt Pupil and Bully.

Alright. React to "Rollerball." "The Warriors." "Heat."

no one has ever reacted to my movie request from like two years ago?

Classification wise.. hmmm.. not sure.. like everything lol 😅 it has a few stages like the beginning being almost comedic to then going thriller and then horror... Fk knows id at a push class sleeps actually as a coming of age film slash horror??? Dunno

With much respect, you pause and talk way too much for people watching you to understand what scene you’re even talking about. Try not to pause literally every second. If you aren’t enjoying the film, it’s probably harder, but it’s harder for people who subscribe to not stop watching. Hope you consider this constructive. Just my POV

You look so lame when you clapped at the end of the movie.

Dude, your reaction was irritating. You seem like a good guy but it's hard to enjoy the movie with you when you talk every millisecond of the reaction. Annoying. Not a fan.

Places like this happened, does happen, all over the world, even recently, There are multiple tv shows, movies, books, and documentaries about it, in many cases the church and govt is/was very involved, it is easy to find out about if you want.

GREAT movie.

What a* surprise! This is the only reaction I have ever seen to this amazing movie. It's a tough one for sure. I do a check every month or so just to see if anybody has reacted to it and this was a pleasant [birthday] surprise. 🫶