The Devil's Own
- R
- 1997
- 1 hr 51 min
-
6.2 (59,474)
The Devil's Own is an action thriller. Tom O'Meara (Harrison Ford) is an American police officer of Irish descent. He is hosting Rory Devaney (Brad Pitt), a visiting Irishman who was referred by a mutual friend named Peter Fitzsimmons who is an American judge and, secretly, an Irish Republican Army sympathizer. Unbeknownst to Tom, Rory is really one Francis "Frankie" Austin McGuire, an infamous IRA terrorist and assassin who is in hiding and looking to buy guns. Tom and his house guest hit it off and are quickly at ease. By the time he learns the ugly truth that Judge Fitzsimmons knowingly and willfully placed a terrorist in his house, endangering his wife and three daughters, it isn't quite as simple as handing Frankie over to British agents who have arrived to take him into custody. In addition to genuinely liking Frankie, he is having a crisis of conscience brought on by covering for a bad act committed by his partner at work which resulted in the death of an unarmed suspect. This situation makes him more sympathetic to Frankie's position that it isn't possible to get real justice from the authorities. It also helps him to recognize that the British agents there to pick up Frankie have no plans to bring him to trial. They intend to kill him and cover it as an accident or escape attempt. In order to provide real justice for both sides, he decides to bring him in himself so he can bring him in alive. However, Frankie has no plans to cooperate. The life of a friend is at stake as well as important supplies for a cause he wholeheartedly believes in. He does all in his power to escape, save his friend's life, and complete the gun deal in support of the cause. When things go south, he uses the substantial skills and wiles available to him to further his ends. The result is a growing trail of dead bodies left behind him. Ultimately, a confrontation with Tom ends in a deadly shoot out. In spite of Tom's ideals, he cannot overcome the weight of Irish history and arrange justice for Frankie. Frankie's dying words pointedly remark on the fact that Tom's goals are rooted in American ideals but Frankie's reality is shaped by Irish political forces, not the American justice system.
