So the question is this: Is The Devil's Own the story of a sensitive IRA terrorist named Frankie MacGuire (Pitt) who comes to America to buy a load of Stinger missiles for the cause back home, or is it the story of a sensitive New York cop named Tom O'Meara (Ford) who invites the young Irish lad into his peaceful suburban household not knowing the violence that surrounds him? Having seen the movie, the answer seems simple. The Devil's Own belongs to Frankie MacGuire. It is the story of how he comes to America on a mission of death and slowly begins to question the righteousness of that mission. While staying with good cop O'Meara and a household of stereotypical daughters in suburban New York, our protagonist is seduced by the tranquillity and ease of life in America. Miles away from the bloodshed of Northern Ireland, it becomes easier and easier to forget about the cause that brought him here. Naturally, MacGuire is unable to escape his roots, and violence soon tracks him down in the form of an evil arms dealer (played in typical scenery-chewing style by baddy du jour Treat Williams).

But being a superstar like Harrison Ford and collecting a salary somewhere in the neighborhood of $20 million dollars, it seems only natural that Ford would demand his own cut of the pie. Somewhere along the line, rewrites were demanded to give Ford's character more screentime. There are now a lot of scenes showing the no-nonsense officer O'Meara performing his daily cop duties (none of which really seem to further the plot). And, of course, O'Meara gets to express a lot of angst over hunting down this terrorist he has come to love like the son he never had. The result is a slightly schizophrenic storyline that bounces between the two leads with occasional jarring effect.

Despite what TV ads would have you believe, The Devil's Own isn't much of a "thriller." It is more of a quiet, intense character study that occasionally bursts into some explosive drama. Ford is, as ever, the workhorse of American superstardom. Though he seems to have lost much of the joy and humor that marked his early work, he can still be counted on to deliver a charismatic performance. Pitt continues to prove that he is more than just a pretty face, adopting a world-weary countenance and a workable Irish burr. Though most of the secondary characters (doomed cop partners who talk a lot about upcoming retirements and daughters who spend all day on the telephone) are pretty cliché, much of the central drama works. The interaction between Pitt and Ford feels real. Pitt's character, you see, lost his father at a very early age. Naturally, Ford's character becomes a father figure to the confused lad. When the two leads actually go head-to-head in the film's final reel, The Devil's Own really starts to hum.

Despite its herky-jerky narrative and its swollen star power, The Devil's Own has a lot going for it. Points must be given for not turning this into a formulaic good-American-guys-versus-bad-foreign-guys-with-bombs thriller. Fans of both Ford and Pitt are sure to flock.