HENRY, Devil's Own

The Devil's Own is actually a pretty good movie. This movies shows many elements of family, and some even relate back to Frankie's childhood. Frankie Devany is the bad boy in the movie that has had a rough childhood. Due to this fact, he is forced to find family outside of the natural realm. This is where the IRA comes in, of courses this turns out to be a horrible decision. However, before this decision goes completely wrong he depends on the kindness of strangers. This is where the lovely Tom O'Meara takes Frankie in and seems happy the he is there. I start to get the feeling that Frankie is the son that he has always wanted, but never had. When he shows Frankie where he will be living, Tom say's " Sure is nice to have someone in the house that stands up to pee." This is one of those signs of acceptance. Later that night, at dinner, the nuclear family scene comes into play. At this moment there is a soft side to Frankie, that is really only displays when he is with the O'Meara's. He looks at the Tom, as he gazes at Tom as he gazed at his father before he was killed. The scene that really welcomed Frankie is the celebration for Tom's daughter. In that scene there is a picture taken, with Tom, his partner, and Frankie. This scene tells a lot about how Tom feels about Frankie, it also gives insight on how Frankie loves them. If you notice, he turns away, then back again to take the photo. Tom knows that his family is essential to survival because he trys all that he could to combat Frankie into doing the right thing. Even when it means that he is going have to take Frankie into custody. Frankie is not even his family, throughout the movie we see their relationship evolve. At the end of the movie ande element of Frankie childhood returned to him. They are on the boat, both Frankie and Tom are shot, yet Frankie retreats back to childhood memories. Frankie's father was a fisherman, so it could be inferred that dying on water would be very peaceful for him. The movie opens and closes with a boat scene, which is the beginning of life and the ending of life for Frankie.

Madere - The Devil's Own

With its opening scene, The Devil's Own shows how family is a central theme of the plot. This scene opens with the Irish countryside, showing the possible and natural peacefulness and beauty of the country. Frankie Maquire is fishing with his father and returns home to have a family meal with his mother and little sister. The peacefulness of the scene does not last long, however, as Frankie's father is brutally murdered at point-blank range right in front of his eyes. In some ways, this scene shows how family ties can be someone's downfall. Not only does Frankie's father's supposed family ties to republican sympathizers prove to be the reason for his death, but as seen in Frankie's young, horrified eyes after his father's murder, his love and ties to his father has caused him to feel as if he's lost everything. On the other hand, however, this scene and its implications about family also end up being the way in which Frankie comes to believe he can regain all he lost with his father's murder. Frankie forms ties to the IRA and finds a family. Not only do these people fight with him in the cause, but they offer him protection and refuge, even leading him to America where he encounters the O'Meara family and once again finds refuge and forms family ties. His family with the IRA also gives him a cause to achieve--to exact revenge on the people who killed his father, which in turn gives him a purpose and reason for living.

Ramon- The Devil's Own

Americans and Irish alike have a strong emphasis on their family. This is shown very much so in The Devil’s Own. The O’Meara family gains a new member when Frankie McGuire is placed into their family the local judge. Much like Patriot Games, we have the IRA family and the American family side by side. The dynamics of IRA family is not so much prevalent in The Devil’s Own. Therefore, a scene I would like to focus on is the post-confirmation party when Tom O’Meara fully recognizes Frankie as a member of their Irish-American family. O’Meara does two things which Pakula purposefully puts high emphasis on in this scene. First, Frankie is asked to be part of a photo with O’Meara and his partner, Edwin Diaz. Some say a picture is worth a thousand words, and I agree. As a native New Orleanian, on numerous occasions we have had to evacuate for hurricanes. On our checklist of items to grab, the number one item is a photo album of the past 25 years starting with my parent’s wedding picture. If some day we lost out home to a natural disaster, we would still have our photos to look back upon and memories will never be forgotten. Second, Frankie is included in the traditional Irish dance by O’Meara. Frankie feels like he is back at home in Ireland, and buys into the O’Meara family lifestyle. By a simple dance, he is able to relax his mind of all the bad things he has done in his past and remember his heritage. 

Ruffino-The Devil's Own

Frankie McGuire (or Rory) came to America to aid his organizational family, the IRA and was thrown into an entirely different kind family. The O'Meara's a family of Irish American's welcome Rory in with open arms. They include Rory in all family events he attends the conformation of Tom's daughter, parties, and even goes to the bar with Tom. Where they play pool together Irish vs. Italians. Tom becomes like a father figure to Rory. Their relationship strengthens progressively during the movie and by the end of the movie we realize how deep their bond runs. In the scene where Tom is trying to get Rory of off the boat to take him into police custody, he loses his gun. And even though Rory has the experience and opportunity to kill Tom, he doesn't because Tom has become a part of his family, this shows how the bonds of family aid the survival of O'Mear At the end of the movie Tom's driving of the boat serves as a final symbol of how he has become a father to Rory.

Butcher - The Devil's Own

When Frankie McGuire arrives in the U.S. he is sent to the O’Meara household. The Irish-American family immediately welcome Frankie in, and he soon becomes just like a member of their own. Tom especially takes to him, jovial at the thought of another male companion in the house of four women. Frankie, known to the O’Mearas as ‘Rory,’ is the son that Tom always wished to have. At his arrival, he meant to simply use the O’Mearas as a safe house, but by the end of The Devil’s Own, Rory develops a strong bond with his host family. As his situation with Burke complicates, he comes to the defense of the O’Mearas.

One afternoon, Tom and Sheila discover intruders in their home, all masked men looking for Rory’s stash of money. While they struggle to fight off the intruders, Rory intervenes to help the O’Mearas. Knowing that Burke was responsible, Rory takes action to make Burke pay for harming his surrogate family. Armed with a gun, Rory pays a visit to Burke to send a warning. Rory exhibits his love for his new American family in his persistence to protect them from further harm. It is pertinent for him to confront the party responsible in the only way he knows how: through violence. From the beginning of his life, violence was prevalent in Ireland. Fatherless at a young age, gunfights and struggle against those stifling the IRA became the norm.

“It’s not an American story; It’s an Irish one,” reiterates Rory to Tom. Rory’s initial plans to acquire weapons in the U.S. bring together these two Irishmen. One is a proud Irish-American cop, and the other, a true Irishman fighting with the IRA. Connected by heritage these men form a bond with each other like that of a father and son.

Bloo-The Devil's Own

In the opening scenes of The Devil’s Own, we see a young boy having dinner with his family when masked men burst into their cottage and in front of the boy’s eyes the father is gunned down. This is a devastating event since Frankie was close with his father. Twenty years later, Frankie McGuire is part of the IRA and the audience can tell that the death of his father is one of the reasons why he joined the IRA.

After a battle on the streets of Belfast, Frankie escapes to New York where he is placed in the home of honest cop Tom O’Meara, his wife and three daughters who have no idea of their guest’s true identity. The movie is mostly centered around the surrogate father and son relationship between Tom and Frankie. Tom and Frankie bond while playing pool against the Italians. Another scene which shows that Frankie is part of the O’Meara family is the confirmation party. Frankie dances with the daughters and Tom even pulls Frankie into the picture.

Through the O’Meara family, Frankie gets a taste of what it is like to have a family who loves and respects each other. This shows that Frankie is not a cold-blooded terrorist, but he has a softer side too. The scene in which Frankie comes to the aid when masked men intrude Tom’s house shows that Frankie feels he is part of the family and wants to protect the O’Meara.

Lazo - The Devil's Own

Unlike Patriot Games, The Devil's Own seems to place much more importance on traditional nuclear families than organizational ones. This most clearly seen with Frankie McGuire's struggle with his father issues. McGuire's father was gunned down in front of him as a child, which itself is a devastating event. What makes it more traumatizing is how close he was to his father; the film with a young Frankie bonding with his father on the boat, and one of Mr. McGuire's few lines of dialogue is a very proud, "Oh, Frankie was terrific." The opening heavily implies that his father's death is what drives Frankie into the IRA.

Much of the action of the film centers on the growing relationship Rory Devaney (Frankie's new alias in America) and the O'Meara family, particularly Tom. The daughters quickly seem to take a liking to Rory: the youngest, Annie, especially develops a strong bond with Rory. Tom is the character most critical to Rory's growth. As the head of the family, he easily becomes a powerful father figure for Rory. It starts small; Tom says he's glad "to have someone else in this house who can pee standing up." Then the two go to the store, but get caught up in a game of pool to settle Irish vs. Italians. Rory is very good at pool, and he and Tom bond well as they dominate their competition. The clearest indication of Rory as an adoptive part of the family comes at the confirmation party. First, he helps comfort Annie, who seems shy. Shortly afterwards, he gets pulled into a picture by Tom, who affectionately claps Rory on the shoulder. He goes so far as to flat say that Rory is part of the family. This sense of belonging to a conventional family that was stolen from him softens Frankie. When the O'Meara's are attacked, he does what it takes to keep them safe. Perhaps he is simply trying to protect them because they are innocent, but his relationship with them is strong enough that he may be fighting to protect them because he truly feels they are the closest to family he has known.

O'Meara Family

The O'Meara family plays an important role in the development of the plot in The Devil's Own. One scene in particular that displays this importance is during the confirmation party. Every family friend is in attendance and in a way, becomes a part of the O'Meara family. Tom specifically includes Rory in the celebration though and in this scene, Rory becomes a part of the O'Meara family. Rory also pays special attention to the youngest daughter and takes on a role as part of the family. This scene sets up that both Tom and Rory have a bond and an obligation to one another. Tom included Rory in the photo with his parter to show this bond and obligation as Rory is put on the same level as Tom's partner. The confirmation party is an essential scene to the plot because it solidifies Rory's place in the O'Meara family.

Cutler: The Devil's Own

In The Devil's Own, family is an important theme and shown as central in the Irish and Irish-American way of life. Frankie McGuire enters Tom O'Meara's family under false pretenses and witnesses his close-knit nuclear family. As a child, Frankie witnessed his father's murder and it changed his perspective. He became an IRA terrorist and the film chronicles his attempt at buying and shipping missiles for the IRA cause. In America, he stays with the  O'Meara family, who are unaware of his true identity. They welcome him and Tom seems pleased to have another man in the house, thinking he is just helping a fellow Irishman trying to start a new life in America.

The scene when the O'Meara family is celebrating Morgan's confirmation is an important representation of Frankie's (who goes by Rory Devaney) acceptance by Tom and his family. The large celebration at the O'Meara house shows Frankie dancing with the family. Tom embraces Frankie and is happy that he's there celebrating with their family. Throughout the movie, Tom treats Frankie like a son and feels betrayed when he finds out that Frankie is not really who he thought he was. The familial theme of this film can be characterized by Frankie and Tom's father-and-son-like relationship and the confirmation party scene personifies their bond.

Hutchinson - The Devil's Own

At the very beginning of The Devil’s Own, we see how important family is to Frankie McGuire, as he sets out to sea with his fisherman father in the opening scene. Unfortunately, in the very next scene, we see that family bond ripped from Frankie, as his father is gunned down right in front of him at the dinner table. Suddenly, Frankie’s whole world comes crashing down around him, and his Irish pride and desire for revenge flares deep within him. Cut to twenty years later, an older Frankie is now a hero of the IRA, shooting people, bombing people, and destroying families left and right – even members of his own team are dying for the cause. It isn’t until Frankie arrives in America that we see any real sense of human value and life bubble within him. By living with Tom O’Meara and his family, some of Frankie – or rather “Rory’s” – walls have come down. He has allowed himself to be taken in by Tom’s family, physically and emotionally. He attends Tom’s daughter’s confirmation, as a member of the family. At the after party, he is treated as just that, a member of the family. When Tom is asked to take a picture with Eddie, Tom grabs “Rory” and pulls him in, including him and solidifying his place in the family. Rory at first appears baffled, but quickly smiles and poses for the picture, enjoying himself. For the rest of the scene, Rory dances with the daughters and actively participates in the normal family function. He is no longer the cold, detached killer leading a secret gun-running mission – he is an accepted, fun, loving and beloved member of the O’Meara family. Finally, since the death of his father, Frankie McGuire has opened up and found a family. He is part of a common family occurrence. He has purpose, something worth fighting for, aside from his Irish Pride. The O'Meara family remind him of why he started fighting in the first place.

Kuebler-The Devil's Own

In this film we see once again many different types of families. These range from those of the IRA, to friendships and brotherhood, to the family of Tom O'Meara. It is hard to say that a man or woman are anything without the support from those around them and people that care for them. People rely on one another and hope to count on those that they trust. Yet, when something attempts to take away that bond from a person it is likely to start a war that only has one outcome.




In the case of Tom O'Meara and his family we see a close-knit family that represents an average family that has a large level of love, trust, and respect. Tom is a good cop who knows what is best for his family and what is best is for him to stay alive. There are a few instances in this film that show Tom reconsidering his position because of the danger that it causes and the possibility of losing his family. Similarly, he is frozen in terror when the masked men hold his wife as a hostage for a moment. He would rather lose his own life than risk that of his wife and daughters. As a family man he cannot allow anything to step between him and those he protects and this is shown when he is forced to take down Frankie. He does not want to hurt him but is left with no choice because he put Tom's family in danger, killed his partner, and destroyed the man that Tom thought Frankie was even though it was just an act. Family is the reason why Tom lived and Frankie died, he had something higher to live for in the end.