Bad Boys (1983 film)
Bad Boys | |
---|---|
Directed by | Rick Rosenthal |
Written by | Richard DiLello |
Produced by | Robert H. Solo |
Starring | |
Cinematography | |
Edited by | Antony Gibbs |
Music by | Bill Conti |
Production companies |
|
Distributed by | Universal Pictures Associated Film Distribution |
Release date |
|
Running time |
|
Country | United States |
Language | English |
Budget | $5 million[citation needed] |
Box office | $9.2 million[1] |
Bad Boys is a 1983 American
Plot
Mick O'Brien is a 16-year-old
Mick is convicted and sent to Rainford Juvenile Correctional Facility. Most of the supervisors there have lowered themselves to the role of zookeepers; one exception is counselor Ramon Herrera, a former gang member. He talks tough to the inmates, but is confident that some of them, especially Mick, can turn their lives around.
Mick's cellmate is Barry Horowitz, a small, intelligent Jewish kid who firebombed a bowling alley after some boys there assaulted him for flirting with their girlfriends. Their cell block is dominated by a pair of brawny sadists named "Viking" Lofgren and Warren "Tweety" Jerome, who take an immediate dislike to Mick. Mick puts up with them at first, but after witnessing Tweety murdering another inmate (who attempted to stab Tweety in retaliation for raping him), he refuses to be intimidated.
Suspecting that Mick may have revealed Tweety's guilt to the authorities, Tweety and Viking go to Mick's cell to confront him about this. But Mick, having anticipated their arrival, outsmarts them by beating them up with a pillowcase full of unopened soda cans. This victory earns him the respect of the block and recognition as the new "barn boss." Tweety is paroled soon afterwards, but is later killed during an attempted robbery at a liquor store.
In vengeance for his brother's death, Paco attacks and rapes Mick's girlfriend, J.C., but is caught and arrested. After learning this, Mick is overcome with desire to see J.C., so he and Barry escape the double perimeter fences through the use of a paste that weakens the links enough to kick a hole through them. While running through the woods, Barry falls on some barbed wire and is caught by two supervisors on their trail; this gives Mick time to get away, but Barry is subsequently beaten by one of the supervisors for escaping and calling him a name. Ramon rightfully believes that Mick will go to J.C.'s, house and soon picks him up there. Before returning to Rainford, Ramon takes Mick to visit a maximum security prison, to show him where he could end up if he continues to live the life of a criminal.
After being convicted of the rape on J.C., Paco is sentenced to the same dormitory at Rainford as Mick. The staff are fully aware of this potential danger, but no other reform school has a vacancy. Paco attempts to provoke Mick into a fight, but Mick avoids the confrontation, since he may qualify for early release if he stays out of trouble. However, he also loses the respect of many of the inmates, who now want to see Paco put Mick away.
In an attempt to retaliate on Mick's behalf, Barry creates a bomb by planting fertilizer in a radio that he places in the cell Viking and Paco share. But when the charge explodes prematurely and only Viking is injured, Barry is condemned to solitary confinement for the remainder of his sentence, a fate he fears more than any other.
Paco accidentally learns he is being transferred to another facility the next day, so he decides to kill Mick that night. While Ramon is on night watch, Paco fakes a ruptured
Cast
- Sean Penn as Mick O'Brien
- Esai Morales as Paco Moreno
- Ally Sheedy as J.C. Walenski
- Reni Santoni as Ramon Herrera
- Eric Gurry as Barry Horowitz
- Jim Moody as Gene Daniels
- Clancy Brown as "Viking" Lofgren
- Robert Lee Rush as Warren "Tweety" Jerome
- John Zenda as Supervisor Wagner
- Alan Ruck as Carl Brennan
- Rick Rosenthal (cameo) as Judge
Production
The idea for the film came from producer Robert Solo who told writer
Solo hired Rick Rosenthal to direct.[3] Rosenthal later said when he first read the script, "I got to page 90, when there'd been a little kid killed, and I said to myself, 'This is reality, but I can't do this, there's just no redeeming value in the whole thing.'... I got to the end. I accepted. Some script changes were made - I think the script was humanized. It's still a hard film, a tough film, but with soul underneath, and I think with social comment that doesn't hit you on the head."[4]
The script was violent but the filmmakers felt this was necessary to tell the story accurately. "I'm a commercial filmmaker first and foremost," said Solo. "This movie is about young people and the youth audience is the primary one. I simply wanted Bad Boys to have a tremendous reality. How do you tell this story without violence? If you don't, you're saying violence doesn't exist."[5]
Finance was obtained from EMI Films.[5]
Casting
Rick Rosenthal says Matt Dillon wanted to play the lead role, but the director was reluctant. He cast Sean Penn (aged 22 at the time of filming) on the basis of a reading. "Although I'm crazy about Matt Dillon as an actor, I thought he'd already done the role in My Bodyguard," said Rosenthal. "I was also afraid that the audience might be conscious of a new movie star, where with Penn they'd only be conscious of Mick." The director said Penn is "a very good actor, obsessively so. He went into character for the whole shoot and stayed there, had a real wolf's head tattooed on his arm, checked into hotels as Mick, the whole thing."[4]
It was Ally Sheedy's first role in a feature. "Rick really took a chance on me, he really did," she said.[6]
Shooting
While filming the escape scene, Sean Penn broke an ankle which halted shooting for three months.
The film unit spent six days filming in St Charles, Illinois, a suburb west of Chicago. They employed about forty residents as extras.[3]
Release
Distribution
Critical reception
Bad Boys garnered generally positive reviews; review aggregate website
In his original review,
Rosenthal later said "I think I turned down around 20 or 22 films after Bad Boys. The phone rang all the time. The funny thing is, at the time I didn't know I was hot. But after American Dreamer, I knew the difference."[13]
Soundtrack
The soundtrack of the film comprised some late, eccentric funk tracks, as well as Billy Squier and Iron Maiden.
- "Get Dressed" by George Clinton
- "Superstar" by T-Connection
- "Tonight's the Night" by T-Connection
- "Too Hot to Be Cool" by Ebonee Webb
- "Everybody Wants You" by Billy Squier
- "In the Dark" by Billy Squier
- "Mr. Hate" by The Tubes
- "Check Us Out" by Light of the World
- "Street Corner" by Ashford & Simpson
- "One More Time" by McFadden & Whitehead
- "Give Me Your Love" by Peabo Bryson
- "Prodigal Son" by Iron Maiden
- "Purgatory" by Iron Maiden
- "Don't Go Away" by Melba Moore
- "Night Owls" by Little River Band
- "Man on Your Mind" by Little River Band
- "Crime Wave" by Prism
- "Run to Her" by Jennifer Warnes
- "Pelo de Alambre" by Bobby Capó
- "Guillermo y Maria" by Bobby Capó
Cultural usage
The name of the Croatian
References
- ^ "Bad Boys (1983) (1983)". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved 6 April 2018.
- ISBN 0-87951-479-5
- ^ a b c Bad Boys RANUNSTEIN, BILL. Los Angeles Times 1 Mar 1983: m10.
- ^ a b 'It's a hard film, a tough film, but with soul underneath' Scott, Jay. The Globe and Mail22 Apr 1983: E.1.
- ^ a b BAD BOYS' PRODUCER OFFERS NO APOLOGIES Pollock, Dale. Los Angeles Times 2 Apr 1983: g1.
- ^ ALLY SHEEDY'S PERKY ACTING IS PAYING OFF Lyman, Rick. Philadelphia Inquirer 8 June 1983: F.5.
- ^ Bad Boys (1983) - Company credits. IMDb. Retrieved July 26, 2011.
- ^ Bad Boys (1983). Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved November 22, 2021.
- ^ New York Magazine Mar 28, 1983. Retrieved July 26, 2011.
- ^ Bad Boys. Chicago Sun-Times. Retrieved July 26, 2011.
- ^ Bad Boys (1983): 'BAD BOYS' IN JAIL. The New York Times. Retrieved July 26, 2011.
- ^ Bad Boys: Critics' Reviews Archived 2012-09-23 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved July 26, 2011.
- ^ BOMBS AWAY! HOW DIRECTORS CAN SURVIVE BY 'FAILING UPWARD': Broeske, Pat H. Chicago Tribune 25 Sep 1988: 36.
External links
- Bad Boys at IMDb
- Bad Boys at AllMovie
- Bad Boys at Box Office Mojo
- Bad Boys at Rotten Tomatoes
- Bad Boys at the American Film Institute Catalog