terrorist who is extremely bitter, violently so, since as a young boy he witnessed his father's murder. It has to be one of Pitt's best performances.. Ford plays a New York City cop and an honest, good one at that, which is nice to see in a modern-day film in which filmmakers prefer to show corrupt policemen. Another very strong point of this film was the ending. When you read someone writing it was "unsatisfactory," don't believe it. Morally, the only objection I had to this film - other than the Lord's name in vain - was too much credence given to Pitt's revenge and violent lifestyle being "understandable" under the circumstances. No, sorry, but as sweet as revenge is to all of us, it shouldn't be condoned.I love the Irish music in here, especially the final song sung during the ending credits. It's beautiful, so don't just the film off too soon.

wonderfully.Frankie is not a hero neither a common criminal there isn't black or white here , but just what he says in the film about himself and his mates: "We are normal people in ubnormal situation". He's not a hero because he has stained his hands with blood repeatedly. He's not a soldier of a regular army and his actions are considered crimes. Note that -and that's an issue- in all likelihood he would be a hero if he were a member of a regular army, killing by his "intelligent" weapons the enemies of his country along with some innocent citizens by mistake . He's not a common criminal, since he believes that in this way he defends the rights of his country and since he has not been hardened or anaesthetized enough yet: he can still feel remorse for his terrible actions and liking affection for a man with different convictions cop Tom .Frankie has been deprived of a peaceful life and of all of its small joys that we normal people take for granted. During one of his missions he is hosted to Tom's house, where he finds the tranquil, friendly family environment, which allows him to reveal the nice guy he would potentially be under different normal circumstances. A friendship a kind of a father-son relationship grows up between the two men. But unfortunately, Frankie was destined to be born and raised "in ubnormal situation", trapped in the vicious circle of violence. His bloody duty calls him. And since there is good stuff in him, he will stand for his own principles -whatever they are he believes they are the right ones- up to the end. The same goes for Tom. Given that, their confrontation seems to be inevitable.This is an absolutely worth watching, sensitive movie with elements of an ancient Greek tragedy since the fate of its "heroes" is somehow predestined - not by Gods but by the situations . It has top-notch performances, fine direction, an interesting story, an unforgettable score and a decent pace. But its strongest point is its humanistic, misinterpreted by audiences message, which in my opinion is the following: 1 The response to violence is violence, a vicious circle from which you can't escape easily. 2 Putting aside all the things that draw dividing lines between us state interests, religion, racial prejudice etc. we all resemble each other. We are all human beings with the same primary needs for friendship, love, happiness, with similar feelings in joy and in sorrow. And if we realized that our world would be much much better.I give it 10 out of 10.---------------------------SPOILERS FOLLOW-----------------------------Frankie, I was so sorry for your victims. I was also so sorry to see you die like that. But you knew the big boys' rule: "You pick up the gun, sooner or later somebody gets the bullet".

music and Rory's closeness to the little girl in the movie.

decisions - pretty solid drama fare.The actors do a fine job, the story has enough subplots to keep the viewers interest on several levels, and as horrid as I've heard people claim the script is, it's believable - the movie shows people living one of the tough parts of life.The politics may be awful, the story may misrepresent what's really happening in Northern Ireland - but until the end credits run, you'll find yourself involved in their story.This is one I watch every 6 months or so, just to enjoy seeing a complex story well-told.

believe the Irish fight like this but it isn't as if the U.S.A don't go to the war but don't get me started in that so i don't think it is right for people that don't live in the troubles and haven't seen there little brother shot in the head e.Tc have the right to pass judgements on the way northern Ireland is !!!!!!!

be the lighting and all the detailing of mood it created. I genuinely thought it was a great film and would suggest people watch it. 9/10 stars

The Internet Movie Database has it listed as "Action/Drama/Thriller". Although there are some action elements in the film, this is really a tragic drama, almost in a classical sense, and it's best to approach the film with only that genre in mind. The plot is fairly complex and the film tends to move slowly--much more slowly than a typical actioner or thriller.The heart of the story is McGuire's relationship with O'Meara and his family. All of the other material--the IRA stuff, the mob and terrorist stuff, the New York City cop stuff, and so on, are not the focus. Those elements are present to help establish characterization, to build the relationship and understanding between McGuire and O'Meara, and to provide a justification for the developments in the film, and particularly the conclusion, which all have poignant things to say about the decisions that we make and why we make them.The film largely succeeds if seen from this dramatic perspective. It's not quite a 10, however, as it always seems slightly distanced from the viewer. It's an 8 out of 10 for me. This comment was originally posted on January 16, 2005 and ended with the above. The following was added much later after reading through some other user comments: We should not forget that even though it takes elements from the real world to construct its story, The Devil's Own is NOT intended to be journalistic or a documentary. There is no claim that it is giving an accurate portrayal of political situations, and it's not intended to campaign for one side or another in a real-world political situation. This is fiction, folks, and should be judged _as fiction_. For that, you should forget about what you know of the real world, and assess the story, images and sounds you experience from your television. Does the story work as a self-contained entity? Are the performances good? Is it visually attractive/rewarding? Those are the kinds of things we should be judging. For me, The Devil's Own succeeded as a drama about relationships, with its poignancy arrived at primarily by making two people from very different worlds, with very different outlooks, learn to see things from different perspectives. That's great if you're very knowledgeable about Northern Ireland in the real world and if you have strong opinions about terrorism. However, your knowledge and opinions on that stuff have nothing to do with this film.

better actor, in my opinion, than people give him credit for, and I thought he did fine here. I even thought he did a convincing Irish accent and I'm Irish-American , better than the German one he did in SEVEN YEARS IN TIBET. And the other actors were good, except for Treat Williams, who started out well but then relied on overacting. All in all, this deserved better.

cold-blooded killer, without a grain of consciousness or humanity.Ok, now to the film. It has good acting, pretty good directing, except for the action scenes , but misses a great opportunity at an interesting story line. The ending also leaves something to be desired, but overall the movie carries it's weight despite it's flaws. Ford plays a good Irish-American cop that finds out that his house guest just happens to kill for a living. When British intelligence demands he turn over Pitt, his sense of duty wont allow him to do it, for fear that they want to murder him, rather than bring him to justice. Caught between a rock & a hard place, he follows the only course of action his conscience will allow, try to bring Pitt in alive to face trial. The trouble is, Pitt is a trained killer and has different plans, namely to bring back stinger missiles to Ireland to fight the British.The bottom line is that the movie is certainly worth renting, especially if you like Ford and/or Pitt.Two thumbs up.