‘I killed your little brother, but he’s dead because you didn’t look after him...’
Yes, this film is called Bad Boys. No, it’s not the Will Smith one. This is about as far from a Michael Bay film as it’s possible to be, in fact. This film is a gritty slice of urban realism that examines life inside a juvenile detention centre in the ’80s. While we’ve seen a lot of this kind of thing before, and they’re always invariably grim, Bad Boys is worth watching for the assured direction of Rick Rosenthal and a string of great performances from a talented young cast…
After a gangland heist goes awry, 16-year-old Irish-American hoodlum Mick O’Brien (Sean Penn) accidentally runs over and kills a rival gang member’s kid brother (Esai Morales plays the gang member in question). Whilst detained, O’Brien develops a rivalry with fellow inmate “Viking” Lofgren (Clancy Brown – as a rule, it’s probably best to avoid having beef with people literally nicknamed “Viking”). There is also a subplot about O’Brien’s relationship with his girlfriend (Ally Sheedy) and some stuff about a kindly counsellor (Reni Santoni) attempting to rehabilitate our protagonist. If you couldn’t tell from that rather labyrinthine plot description, there is too much going on here.
One thing I did like about Bad Boys is how much time we spend with the central characters before they are locked up. We spend loads of time with Penn and his massive hair, so by the time he arrives at juvie, we can sympathise with him a little despite the terrible things he has done. In modern cinema, we’d start in the detention centre and get a few minutes of backstory via flashback and straight into the action. The ’80s, ladies and gentlemen… what a time to be alive. It helps that Penn, a mere pup at 22 when this film was released, demonstrates here his visceral power as an actor. He inhabits the role of O’Brien completely and it’s a testament to his cast members that they manage to keep up with him every step of the way.
Prison movies are always entertaining, and this one doesn’t shy away from the unpredictable brutality of prison life whilst also showcasing some of the most ’80s haircuts this side of a Bon Jovi video. It’s quite the combination.
