Bad Boys

A Chicago delinquent (Sean Penn) finds himself sentenced to reform school after a botched robbery.

Bad Boys isn’t your typical 80s teen film. Instead, it tries hard to be an in-your-face movie about the realities of life in a big city reform school and almost succeeds. The performances are excellent all round (even if Clancy Brown, at 24, looks far too old to be in a juvenile prison), and the script manages to avoid being sappy or preachy.

Unfortunately, and perhaps because of its age, the film never feels truly authentic. Scenes like the rape of one of the smaller inmates don’t add any sense of realism, but instead scream, “Hey, look how hardcore this movie is!” This is a shame because most of the performances, especially Penn’s and Esai Morales’s do feel authentic. Maybe in 1983 this had more punch, but in today’s world, after films like Kids, Bad Boys looks tame in comparison.

Still, the film does tell it’s story well, and tries its best not to pull any punches, even if I can’t help but feel that it’s doing exactly that.