Bad Boys is a 1983 American drama film primarily set in a juvenile detention center, starring Sean Penn, Esai Morales, and Ally Sheedy, directed by Rick Rosenthal. The original music score was composed by Bill Conti.
Plot
Mick O'Brien (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 (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 is Barry Horowitz (Eric Gurry), a small, wiry Jewish kid who firebombed a bowling alley in an attempt to kill some kids who beat him up. The cell block is dominated by a pair of brawny sadists named Viking (Clancy Brown) and Tweety (Robert Lee Rush). As soon as their alpha male status is established, Mick takes his first step toward defining himself by standing up to them.
To get revenge for his brother's death, Paco rapes Mick's girlfriend J.C. (Sheedy, in her film debut), leaving her bitter and humiliated. Mick is desperate to see her, so he and Horowitz escape the double perimeter fence during football practice via the use of corrosive placed on the fences, making them weak enough to kick open. Mick gets away 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 a 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.
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 ruptured 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 resisting at last second. 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
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
Soundtrack
The soundtrack of the movie comprised some late, eccentric funk tracks, as well as Billy Squier and Iron Maiden.
Impact
The name of the Croatian ultras group Bad Blue Boys (who support NK Dinamo Zagreb) is said to have been inspired by this movie.
External links
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