Bad Boys (1983 film)

Infobox_film
name = Bad Boys


caption = Theatrical release poster
director = Rick Rosenthal
producer = EMI Films
writer = Richard Di Lello
starring = Sean Penn
Esai Morales
Alan Ruck
Ally Sheedy
Clancy Brown
music = Bill Conti
cinematography = Bruce Surtees
Donald E. Thorin
editing = Antony Gibbs
distributor = Universal Pictures
released = March 25, 1983
runtime = Theatrical cut
123 min.
DVD cut
104 min.
country = USA
language = English
budget = $5,000,000
gross = $9,190,819
amg_id = 1:3713
imdb_id = 0085210

"Bad Boys" is a 1983 juvenile delinquent melodrama primarily set in a juvenile detention center, starring Sean Penn, Esai Morales, and Ally Sheedy, directed by Rick Rosenthal.

Plot

Mick O'Brien (Sean Penn) is a 16-year-old Irish hood from Chicago. While most of Mick's crimes involve snatching purses, vandalism, and getting into brawls, he aspires to bigger and better things, which leads him to attempt ripping off a rival hood, Paco Moreno (Esai Morales). Everything goes wrong: Mick's partner and best friend Carl (Alan Ruck) is killed, and Mick, while trying to escape the police, accidentally runs over and kills an eight-year-old boy who happens to be Paco's kid brother.

Because he's under 18, Mick is sent to the Rainford Juvenile Correctional Facility rather than a state prison for adults. However, as the film makes clear, this "juvenile correction facility" is not a place where troubled kids are reformed, but rather a place where they grow tougher, angrier, and more prepared for a life of adult crime. Most of the wardens and counselors seem to have resigned themselves to the role of zoo keepers, with the exception of Ramon Herrera (Reni Santoni), a former gang member who talks tough to the inmates, but holds out hope for some of them, especially Mick.

Mick's cell mate, a small, wiry Jewish kid named Barry Horowitz, (Eric Gurry), who gives the character both a much-needed sense of humor (thus inducing a few laughs into the otherwise grim material) and an element of danger (he is at the reform school because he firebombed a bowling alley in an attempt to kill some kids who beat him up). In a story like this, there are always the toughest thugs in the group, in this case a couple of brawny sadists named Viking (Clancy Brown) and Tweety (Robert Lee Rush). As soon as their alpha male status is established, the plot demands that Mick's first step toward defining himself will be to stand up to them, but the way in which he does it is so brutal and sudden that it feels surprising.

To get revenge for the slaying of his 8-year-old brother, Paco rapes Mick's girlfriend J.C. (Ally Sheedy in her film debut), leaving her bitter and humiliated. Mick becomes desperate to see her, so he and Horowitz manage to escape the double perimeter fence during football practice via the use of corrosive on the fences, making them weak enough to kick open. Both try to get away, Mick succeeds but Horowitz falls on barbed wire and is then caught. Ramon senses that Mick had gone to J.C.'s house, and soon picks him up.

When the police are alerted to the rape and arrest Paco, he is sentenced to the same dormitory at Rainford that Mick is in. The staff are truly aware of this potential danger, but no other reform school has vacancy.

To get revenge on Viking, Horowitz plants fertilizer into a radio that he gives to him to use. When the charge explodes he is condemned to solitary confinement for good, a fate he fears more than any other for, despite his violent nature, he desires human companionship.

Eventually Paco finds out about his transfer, and the night before it he carries out the showdown between him and Mick. In order to avoid staff intervention, Herrera, who was on night patrol, is injured by Paco after he pretends to have a burst appendix. The door into the cells is then barricaded, and the entire dormitory is aroused by the brawl. Eventually, Mick comes out on top, and the movie ends with him very nearly killing Paco but stabs the floor. He then drags a beaten Paco in front of the caged Ramon and other detention officers and heads back to his cell, crying in remorse.

Cast

* Sean Penn as Mick O'Brien
* Esai Morales as Paco Moreno
* Alan Ruck as Carl Brennan
* Ally Sheedy as J.C. Walenski
* Clancy Brown as "Viking" Lofgren
* Robert Lee Rush as Warren "Tweety" Jerome
* Reni Santoni as Ramon Herrera
* Jim Moody as Gene Daniels
* Eric Gurry as Barry Horowitz
* Jamie Lee Curtis (cameo) as long-haired passerby

Distribution

Universal Pictures originally released this film in 1983, and Thorn/EMI released it on videocassette, but in 1999 Artisan Entertainment took the rights and released the DVD, then in 2001 Anchor Bay Entertainment took the DVD rights and released, and in 2007 Facets Multimedia Distribution took the rights and released.

Release dates

* United States - March 25, 1983
* Australia - August 4, 1983
* West Germany - August 12, 1983
* Finland - January 27, 1984
* Sweden - February 3, 1984
* France - March 7, 1984
* Norway - April 8, 1984
* Japan - February 2, 1985

Pop culture references

* "Leave It to Beaver" - Barry says "Leave it to Beaver."
* "Halloween II" - Title of film is seen on marquee.
* "Kiss of Death" - The film is seen.
* "Wonderland" - The film shows this movie.

oundtrack

The soundtrack of the movie comprised of some late, eccentric funk tracks.
*"Get Dressed" by George Clinton
*"Superstar" by T-Connection
*"Tonight's The Night" by T-Connection

External links

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