Plot
A police officer uncovers the real identity of his houseguest, an IRA terrorist in hiding.

Release Year: 1997

Rating: 5.9/10 (26,068 voted)

Critic's Score: 53/100

Director: Alan J. Pakula

Stars: Harrison Ford, Brad Pitt, Margaret Colin

Storyline
A thriller about an IRA gunman who draws an American family into the crossfire of terrorism. Frankie McGuire is one of the IRA's deadliest assassins. But when he is sent to the U.S. to buy weapons, Frankie is housed with the family of Tom O'Meara, a New York cop who knows nothing about Frankie's real identity. Their surprising friendship, and Tom's growing suspicions, force Frankie to choose between the promise of peace of a lifetime of murder.

Writers: Kevin Jarre, David Aaron Cohen

Cast:
Harrison Ford - Tom O'Meara
Brad Pitt - Rory Devaney / Francis Austin McGuire
Margaret Colin - Sheila O'Meara
Rubén Blades - Edwin Diaz
Treat Williams - Billy Burke
George Hearn - Peter Fitzsimmons
Mitch Ryan - Chief Jim Kelly (as Mitchell Ryan)
Natascha McElhone - Megan Doherty
Paul Ronan - Sean Phelan
Simon Jones - Harry Sloan
Julia Stiles - Bridget O'Meara
Ashley Carin - Morgan O'Meara
Kelly Singer - Annie O'Meara
David O'Hara - Martin MacDuff
David Wilmot - Dessie

Taglines: One man trapped by destiny, and another bound by duty. They're about to discover what they're willing to fight, and to die for.

Release Date: 26 March 1997

Filming Locations: Baruch College, Manhattan, New York City, New York, USA

Box Office Details

Budget: $90,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend: $18,063,265 (USA) (30 March 1997) (2504 Screens)

Gross: $81,500,000 (Worldwide) (except USA)

Runtime: 107 min

Trivia:
Average Shot Length = ~4.8 seconds. Median Shot Length = ~4.6 seconds.

Goofs:
Revealing mistakes: When Tom enters the morgue, Eddies eyes twitch, though he supposed to be dead.

Quotes:
Billy Burke: Go get the money and we can do the deal. There's a warehouse at 12th and 7th. I'll be waiting. And please don't fool around... or I'll kill your friend.
Rory: Stupid man!

Why must Hollywood meddle in things it doesn't understand?

Rating: 6/10

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.

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