Bad Boys (1983) Review

"I killed your little brother, but he's dead because you didn't look after him."

-Mick O'Brien

After an attempt to steal drugs leaves three people dead, 16-year-old Mick O'Brien (Sean Penn) is arrested and sent to a juvenile detention center.  Not willing to be intimidated, Mick soon becomes the big dog in the prison, but he makes himself some enemies along the way.  To make matters worse, Mick's rival, Paco Moreno (Esai Morales), wants revenge on Mick for killing his brother and ends up in the same detention center.

What Works:

The best part about Bad Boys is the tension.  Director Rick Rosenthal does an outstanding job of building the conflict and suspense.  The tension between Mick and his enemies continues to rise and rise until you feel like the movie is going to explore.  It's very exciting.  There's even a scene where a character is carrying a radio that has an explosive inside.  Is it going to go off?  And when?  It's fantastic work.

Not all of the casting choices work, but the ones that do really do.  Clancy Brown appears in his first role as "Viking" Lofgren.  He's a massive guy who is the alpha of the inmates.  Brown is always incredible and he's very intimidating in this movie.  

The other really solid member of the juvenile cast is Esai Morales.  His hatred for Mick is very intense and he brings an urgency to the story.  He's scary and an excellent antagonist

The best scene of the movie is when Mick sees his girlfriend, J.C. (Ally Sheedy) for the first time after she is raped by Paco.  Sean Penn is spectacular here as we see Mick's tough exterior break for the first time.

Finally, I really have to give props to Bad Boys for how dark the movie is willing to go.  You don't see a lot of movies that are willing to kill off kids, but Bad Boys does it...twice...in two separate incidents.  They don't shy away either as both deaths are on screen.  It raises the stakes of the story.  No one is safe.  It's shocking, but serves a purpose, which is how I love my movies.

What Sucks:

My only complaint with the movie is that I didn't buy some of the actors as tough criminals.  Horowitz (Eric Gurry) is the big offender, but even Mick has this problem at times.  I couldn't get lost in the characters like I could with Viking and Paco.  Penn is great when he is vulnerable, but it doesn't fully click when he's supposed to be the toughest guy in the prison.

Verdict:

Bad Boys is an intense film with excellent performances from Morales and Brown and a willingness to get dark, which I always appreciate.  I didn't always buy the performances of the Bad Boys, but I still really enjoyed the film and it's far superior to the Will Smith and Martin Lawrence Bad Boys.

 9/10: Great