I love this movie so much

Truly Dreadful Film

One of my all time favorites.

Mostly, the movie is committed to the value of a good time.

Mick O'Brien (Sean Penn) usually wants things his way. He is right in the heart of Chicago's slums where street gangs will slug it out with drugs as well as guns, but the only problem is his sweetheart played by Ally Sheedy. So, in the first gang retaliation scene, Mick O'Brien gets several enforcers of Paco's street gang in a ambush and drive-by shooting, killing off several of Paco Moreno's gang buddies, but then, Mick realizes that the police are coming. He realizes that during his escape from his pursuit by police cars, he evades a quasi-police roadblock but then his car then hones in into Paco's child brother and slams him hard and the boy immediately dies from what is technically a vehicular homicide..as he crashes and his car bursts into flames..but he survives.So he ends up in custody, ends up in court--Mick--on multiple counts of 1st degree murder by association, eluding police and reckless vehicular homicide--but the judge tells him that he is spared because he is a juvenile. If he was not, he would have been sent to prison for the rest of his natural life, but the judge remands him to the Rainford Juvenile Detention Center.As soon as he gets into this detention center, he meets Gene Daniels, a sort of semi-warden at Rainford. Later on, as Mick O'Brien is introduced to something like a juvenile version of Alcatraz...although mainly a minimum-security facility, he eventually meets up with several other inmates who are ready to explode to fights or rioting like Mick. As Mick approaches his cell block..and his individual cell...he is greeted by a taunting line just like it happens at the first day of military boot camp. He then befriends quickly Horowitz, one of his cellmates, an avid anarchist-like scientist who informs O'Brien that Horowitz knows several members of Paco's street gang. The whole prison scene, is not terribly Alcatraz-like, but more of something a bit out of the Joilet Correctional Center scenes in "The Blues Brothers", with a security fence surrounding the detention grounds. Ramon Herrera then tells Mick about his gargantuan rap sheet he had-- long enough to even dwarf even some of the famous rap sheets by mobsters. He says to Mick that the killing of Paco's child was likely intentional and worthy of possible retaliation by cellmates who have ties to Paco's gang. Paco's surviving gang members then plan their revenge for the death of the Paco's kid, targeting Mick's girlfriend. Before this happens, Paco's gang members who are in the facility--this Mick doesn't know, set off several taunt actions against Mick. Then, Ally, on the way home to the store in the Chicago's streets at night under the "El", are ambushed by Paco and his surviving gang sidekick. And Paco, then gets his revenge, trapping Ally under the "El" tracks and raping her in the height of an oncoming CTA train thundering over them. Fortunately, we do not see most of the actual rape. Afterwards, Paco was about to kill that lady by orders of the other attacker but he refuses. Then an approaching Chicago police car stops their actions--a police officer shoots his attacking friend dead, and Paco has no escape, arrested, and finally, sent to Rainford as Ally Sheedy recognizes the character Paco in a police lineup.A cellmate then informs Mick about the sexual assault of his sweetie, and then Mick plans a bold escape from Rainford, and then, with a help of a truck going outside of the facility, was able to go back to the girlfriend's apartment. Mick and his sweetheart finally embrace each other and Mick strongly consoles her for that horrible incident she faced.Ramon Herrera then comes in and tells Mick that his escape is over, and is whisked back to a van to sent him back to Rainford. The warden then came close to giving him an extension-of-time penalty for the escape but he forgives and lets Mick serve the rest of his sentence.But now, Ramon Herrera then quickly tells Mick to go to his room in private because Ramon is fearing major revenge by the guy who raped Mick's girlfriend...Paco Moreno, who would be transferred immediately to Rainford. This sets up the big fight by Mick and Paco. Paco during lights out makes a ruse that allures Ramon, knocks out Ramon, sends him back to the room, and locks him up. At the same time, Mick burns the only picture he has of his sweetie so he can focus on Paco. Then, Paco goes into Mick's cell but Paco is waiting for him and hits him from behind, starting this final fight. The cellmates then come out and see this no-holds barred fight ensue. As the fight explodes to its climax, it is almost like the "Rumble" in West Side Story, but this rumble is in prison. Like the "rumble", two hard-headed guys, one with a knife. In the end, Mick wins the fight but spares Paco's life before he could drive the knife right into his chest. He drags Paco's injured body right in front of Ramon, goes back to his cell and that's it. The cellmates are then ordered back to their cells because the fight is over, and orders "lights out", and that was it. Mick got his revenge against Paco, but Mick was not too bold to kill Paco off...

Bad Boys is directed by Rick Rosenthal and written by Richard Di Lello. It stars Sean Penn, Esai Morales, Eric Gurry, Alan Ruck, Ally Sheedy and Clancy Brown. Music is by Bill Conti and cinematography by Bruce Surtees and Donald E. Thorin.Mick O'Brien (Penn), a teenage criminal from Chicago, finds himself doing hard time at the Rainford Juvenile Correction Facility after his latest robbery attempt ends in tragedy. Rainford is not a place where young thugs get reformed, it's where they become harder and more prepared for a life of crime........ Teenage hoodlum movies are notoriously difficult to get right, more often than not, in spite of being riveting viewing experiences, they come off as being exploitive rather than educationally observant. Over the years there have been one or two exceptions, leading the way was Scum (1979), Alan Clarke's scorching appraisal of the British Borstal system, and from America, Rick Rosenthal's Scum influenced Bad Boys starring a pre-fame Sean Penn. Bad Boys is a rare old beast in the pantheon of young offender movies, it manages to overcome inevitability and primitiveness of plot by giving thought to its central characters, notably Penn's wounded animal protagonist., who remarkably isn't a perfunctory part of the plot. Sense of place, too, is given much attention to detail as Rosenthal gets in tight within the confines of this juvenile facility. Di Lello's script is thankfully free of the clichés that often detract from the drama in a prison based movie, the moral choice heartbeat that pounds away in Bad Boys is never twee or shoehorned in by way of a necessity. The thematics exist on very real humanistic terms. Led by a spitfire turn from Penn, cast are mostly great, with Gurry (engaging), Sheedy (tender), Morales (complex) and Brown (menacing) adding a professionalism not often seen in films of this type.Problems arise when the film goes outside of Rainford's fences, for it loses some pent up momentum. What made Scum so searing and oppressive was that it never left the Borstal facility, claustrophobia and anger inherent were the order of the day. Bad Boys' makers choose to weld two concurrent stories on the outside, with that of Mick O'Brien's fate, it works in respect of the narrative outcome (which with some annoyance is never in any doubt), but at some cost to the mood created in the bleak interiors. There's also the issues of having to accept the ridiculousness of certain developments in the story. Be it the easy access to substances no real life prisoner would be allowed near, or the leap of faith needed to imagine that the prison authorities would allow the final confrontation to become a reality, we are asked to look the other way in order to get some hefty wallop into the drama.Violent and unflinching in its emotional honesty, and supremely crafted on both sides of the camera, Bad Boys, one or two hiccups aside, is a first rate drama. 8/10

Bad Boys, starring Sean Penn as Mick O'Brien and Esai Morales as Paco Moreno, is one of the most entertaining and disturbing movies ever. But to focus on the two leads is unfair to the host of other actors who put in magnificent performances, particularly actor Eric Gurry as Barry Horowitz.Teen Mick O'Brien is a vicious gangster punk. When one of his armed robbery schemes goes awry, a robbery of a drug deal involving Paco Moreno, he unintentionally runs down and kills Moreno's little brother, and ends up in juvenile prison. His cell mate is Horowitz. After an awkward start they become close friends and confidantes. Horowitz, who has been there a while, teaches O'Brien the ropes. Meanwhile prison guard and counselor Ramon Herrera (actor Reni Santoni) wants to set Mick on the right path, but this is not an easy task.The prison officials have given authority over other prisoners to two tough inmates, cell mates Viking (actor Clancy Brown) and Tweety (actor Robert Lee Rush), who get to hand out prison work assignments, receive the profits from cigarette sales, etc. They immediately come into conflict with O'Brien and Horowitz. O'Brien manages to usurp their position of authority, leading to further conflicts. O'Brien's toughness and street smarts make him the winner time and again.The character of Horowitz, a young Jewish boy who came to juvey after a botched revenge plot, is worth a whole review by itself. What a shame that this magnificent actor, Eric Gurry, has appeared in relatively few films. Though he is small and weak and would appear to be of little help in a fight, his wit, dogged determination and superior intelligence help him to survive in this environment where he is very out of place. Despite being nothing like the other prisoners, as the film progresses we learn that he has strong criminal tendencies and prison is probably where he belongs.Moreno, seeking revenge on O'Brien, beats and rapes O'Brien's girlfriend (actress Ally Sheedy) so he can go to prison and get even. Tweety is paroled, and Moreno moves in as Viking's roommate. These kindred spirits promptly begin plotting against O'Brien.Circumstances take both Viking and Horowitz out of the picture, leaving Moreno and O'Brien to face a final showdown alone.

Prior to starring in the hard-edged 1983 drama Bad Boys, Sean Penn had proved his early promise in the TV movie The Killing of Randy Webster, played a memorable supporting role in Taps (with fellow newcomer Tom Cruise), and created the definitive California surfer dude as the perpetually stoned Jeff Spicoli in Fast Times at Ridgemont High. But it was Bad Boys that cemented Penn's reputation as a rare talent--an actor whose skill transcended his youth, revealing a depth and maturity that the majority of his acting peers could only aspire to. That gravity and emotional dimension is evident throughout Penn's performance here as Mick O'Brien, a chronic offender whose path to a Chicago juvenile corrections facility seems utterly preordained. The institution is hardly conducive to reformation--it's a jail for problem kids, and a cauldron for all the societal ills that sent kids there in the first place. Mick's there because he was involved in a shootout during a botched robbery of drugs from rival street gangster Paco Moreno (Esai Morales), whose little brother was killed when Mick accidentally ran him over with his getaway car. Overcrowding results in Mick and Paco's being sent to the same facility (one of the film's few stretches of credibility), and this leads to a rather predictable showdown that will take the jive prison's violence to its inevitable extreme. It's a shame this conclusion ultimately doesn't live up to the film's superior first hour, but Bad Boys remains a remarkably authentic, even touching portrait of troubled youth whose torment is conveyed through thoughtful and richly emotional development of characters. Director Rick Rosenthal (who had previously helmet Halloween II) maintains a vivid sense of setting within the correctional facility's cold walls, and through the performances of Penn and a superb supporting cast (including Ally Sheedy in her film debut as Mick's girlfriend), Bad Boys emerges as one of the best films of its kind, forcing the viewer to ask difficult questions about at-risk youth and the proper way to improve or at least preserve their endangered lives.