Film Review: The Devil's Own

Francis Austin McGuire’s (Shane Dunne) father (Martin Dunne) dies -- saying grace (“Bless us, o Lord, for these Thy gifts which of Thy bounty we are about to receive . . .”) with daughter (Samantha Conroy), son, and wife (Gabrielle Reidy) -- from an anti-Republican, masked gunman's four bullets.

• Frankie (Brad Pitt) subsequently emerges as Special Air Service agent Harry Sloan’s (Simon Jones) #1 target for 7 Army, 11 Royal Ulster Constabulary, and many Loyalist paramilitary deaths.
• Desmond’s (David Wilmot) death in Belfast and helicopter sweeps in September 1972 find Martin MacDuff (David O’Hara) considering Stinger missiles through Billy Burke (Treat Williams), owner/operator of three bars and weapons dealer.

As Rory Devaney, Frankie goes through Newark on February 21, 1993. 

State court judge Peter Fitzsimmons (George Hearn) has Rory lodged in Staten Island at 87 Cornelia Avenue with Sergeant Tom O’Meara (Harrison Ford); wife Sheila (Margaret Colin), Winston Real Estate agent; and daughters Annie (Kelly Singer), Bridget (Julia Stiles), and Morgan (Ashley Carin). Tom soon inveighs against:

• burglars (Chance Kelly) frightening Sheila;
• Edwin Díaz (Rubén Blades) gunning a radio-stealing, thrice-shooting car-jacker and missing retirement in three years into bakery or pot-bellied pork opportunities;
• Hispanic domestic disputant (Sixto Ramos) intimidating daughter (Jessica Marie Kavanagh) and wife (Mya Michael); and
• rookies (Scott Nicholson) pursuing condom-stealers (Hassan Johnson).

He judges as less important helping Rory save Sean Phelan (Paul Ronan) from Billy’s ransom demands than turning Rory over to Harry. 

Rory knows that Chief Jim Kelly (Mitchell Ryan) and FBI agents Art Fisher (Damien Leake) and Evan Stanley (Victor Slezak) expect violent endings. He never likes Jack Fitzsimmons’ (Jack McKillop) nanny Megan Doherty’s (Natascha McElhone) train-hopping plans to her brother-in-law and sister, Joe and Geraldine McDonnaugh, in San Francisco. He meets Tom aboard the missile-laden Voyager.

So The Devil’s Own nudges audiences through Ireland and the northeastern U.S.A., with:

• David Aaron Cohen, Vincent Patrick screenwriters;
• Robert F. Colesberry, Lawrence Gordon producers;
• Columbia Pictures, distribution/production;
• James Horner, musician;
• Kevin Jarre, ideator/screenwriter;
• Donald Laventhal, Lloyd Levin executive producers;
• Jane Musky, production designer;
• Alan J. Pakula, director;
• Bernie Pollack, costume designer;
• Tom Rolf, Dennis Virkler editors; and
• Gordon Willis, cinematographer. 

My special thanks to talented artists and photographers/concerned organizations who make their fine images available on the internet.

In "The Devil's Own" Frankie's father is murdered in front of his family in their isolated home in Cookstown, County Tyrone, Northern Ireland.
During the Troubles, which lasted from the 1960s to 1998, Cookstown experienced outbreaks of violence despite history of cordial relations between Catholics and Protestants.
north-northwest view of Cookstown from Tullyhogue Fort; Henry Clark, CC BY SA 2.0, via Geograph Britain and Ireland @ https://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/1836107; Henry Clark (View of Cookstown from Tullyhogue Fort by HENRY CLARK), CC BY SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons @ https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:View_of_Cookstown_from_Tullyhogue_Fort_-_geograph.org.uk_-_1836107.jpg

In "The Devil's Own," Rory (Brad Pitt) lodges on Staten Island with New York police Sergeant Tom O'Meara (Harrison Ford) at 87 Cornelia Avenue.
Cornelia Avenue, which crosses Hylan Boulevard, is the main entry road into Wolfe's Pond Park, located on Staten Island's South Shore.
northward view of Wolfe's Pond, Wolfe's Pond Park, Staten Island, southwest New York City; Sunday, July 20, 2008, 13:47: Jim.henderson, Public Domain, via Wikimedia Commons @ https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Wolfes_Pond_jeh.JPG

"The Devil's Own" was the last film directed by Polish Jewish American film director, producer and writer Alan Jay Pakula (April 7, 1928-November 19, 1998).
It was the only film that he made with Brad Pitt. It was his second film with Harrison Ford, whom he had directed in Presumed Innocent (1990).
Alan Pakula promotes Presumed Innocent for its Friday, October 26, 1990, release: Towpilot, CC BY SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons @ https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Alan_J._Pakula.jpg

"The Devils Own trailer" (2:21)
Uploaded September 17, 2009, by Experience Blu-ray to YouTube ~ URL: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RozG2ejdeh8

Diana, Princess of Wales, and First Lady Hillary Clinton on Wednesday, June 18, 1997
Four days later Diana and her two sons, 12-year-old Harry and 15-year-old William, viewed "The Devil's Own" at Kensington Odeon in west London.
Map Room, White House, Washington DC: Public Domain, via Wikimedia Commons @ https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:U.S._First_Lady_Hillary_Clinton_met_with_Princess_Diana.jpg