Bad Boys (1983) – Review

Chicago, Illinois. It is the early 80s. As kid hooligan Mick O’Brien (Penn) busts a car window open that is stopped at a light and grabs a purse out, he runs through the streets, the crime game in progress. As he is pursued by a random man trying to help, he jacks him also in an alleyway, scoring more cash and belting him on the head before heading home for the night.

Meanwhile, Paco Moreno (Morales) and his group of kids have a large stash of drugs. Time to flip it for a grip of cash in a dark alleyway. What a great life he has. After all, he doesn’t want a job, he just wants a business. As an ambush comes from around the corner it’s a good thing his crew tooled up for this meet. If there’s any funny business at the meet this Saturday night for the cash after the drugs have been flipped, then there will be bloodshed. Bet.

At school on Monday, Mick runs into Carl Brennan (Ruck) who watched the alleyway drug deal with Moreano go down, and tells O’Brien about it, who doesn’t pay much attention since he’s focused on J.C. Walenski’s hot ass (Sheedy). As these kids and youthful criminals keep pushing their limits, the viewer can’t help but wonder what kind of disasters are coming for all of them. We’ll likely find out immediately.

Bad Boys is a good and realistic crime and prison tale. The script gives the actors a chance to paint a stark and bleak story of how things often go in life. The romantic stories of criminals planning some heist and getting away with heaps of cash and never getting caught are fantasy, while reality is usually disastrous tales of tragedy, injury, horror, accident, trauma, death, incarceration, regret, guilt, and hopefully rehabilitation, if the tail end is even possible.

Sean Penn has always been a strong actor, and this was a good role for him while young. The cast is full of gems, but he is the focal point and holds the picture up just fine. As with any prison feature, the structure of this film will feel similar to others due to the cyclical and constrictive nature of this type of life. Morales proves to also be a strong counterpoint lead as well, with both young men destined to collide.

Bad Boys is serious and dark in nature and does not flinch from its subject matter. Dialogue is sharp. Characters are authentic and show signs of intelligence and realism even if chasing criminal dreams, revenge or street lives. There is dimensionality to the world built here in the street and the reform prison. It’s hard not to care for the characters, even the ones who have made some poor choices, which is the sign of a complex film.