Molly Olsen 03/05/97 03:05 PM tifcasla @ mail.internet.com.mx wrote: Hi. I would like to get some information on the film Sleepers (Norman Levinson, I think, starring De Niro, Hoffman, Pitt, Gassman). Does anybody know if it is based on a real story? By the way, did you like the film? I am not quite sure. It has some great moments, but I think it was far too long and a bit "soap opery". ___________________________ SLEEPERS was based on the bestselling book by Lorenzo Carcaterra. It's supposedly autobiographical but the facts are controversial; some people say he exaggerated them and some say he made the whole story up. Personally, having read the book and seen the movie, the movie is very faithful to the book, and I don't see how he could make up such a story when several of the characters are still alive and well and not coming out against it. I liked the film and while it is very melodramatic, so is the book; not only that, but the moral good guys/bad guys, revenge-is-good tone is carried over perfectly from the book. That should be the controversial element if you ask me -- was it right, what the kids did to their tormentors? Carcaterra paints himself and his friends as heroes in the book but seems to completely miss the boat on the fact that they've become just like their tormentors, that they've sunk to their level with (SPOILER ALERT) the murder and cruelty they inflict on the guards and their families. This doesn't come across as clearly in the movie but I like the fact that Levinson preserved that element of moral ambiguity. The careful viewer will be critical of the characters' actions. If it is all true, maybe Michael is the only one who really did the right thing by not killing anyone, and sacrificing his legal career to put the (remaining) guilty parties in jail. Molly Olsen Associate Producer, Discovery Channel Multimedia [log in to unmask] ---- To signoff SCREEN-L, e-mail [log in to unmask] and put SIGNOFF SCREEN-L in the message. Problems? Contact [log in to unmask]