Jason Patric, Brad Pitt, Ron Eldard and Billy Crudup star as juvenile delinquents who finally leave their detention centre and set out to get revenge on their four cruel guards in this compelling and, horrifyingly, largely true story. Excellent for its first hour, this tough backstreets epic then falls away as unnecessary footage spins the story out too far. But it remains a powerful one, with a deliciously repellent turn by Kevin Bacon as the evil head guard and a silkily menacing one from Vittorio Gassman, as the local mafia Don.

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