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Bad Boys

year 1983decade 80sdirector Rick Rosenthalgenre Dramagenre Crime

123 minutes

Cast

Selected cast credits · Film reference

Sean Penn Mick O’Brien
Reni Santoni Ramon Herrera
Jim Moody Gene Daniels
Eric Gurry Barry Horowitz
Ally Sheedy J.C. Walenski
Clancy Brown Viking Lofgren
Robert Lee Rush Tweety Warren Jerome
Esai Morales Paco Moreno
John Zenda Wagner
Alan Ruck Carl Brennan
Tony Mockus Warden Bendix
Erik Barefield Terrell
Dean Fortunato Perretti
Lawrence Mah Ricky Lee
Jorge Noa Carlos
Martha De La Cruz Mrs. Moreno
Ray Ramirez Mr. Moreno
Eugene J. Anthony Robert Walenski
Andrew Gorman Detective Moran
Donald James Black gang leader
Jane Alderman Woman victim
Fran Stone Vicki O’Brien

Bad Boys | The Rewatchables

host Bill Simmonshost Chris Ryanproducer Craig Horlbeck
Explore episodeClose episode

Most Rewatchable Scene

Soda-can beating

In the discussion (15)
Approx. transcript time · 00:10:42Read transcript
  • The opening assault makes Mick immediately unsympathetic, yet Penn gradually wins the audience over.
  • The post-fight shower conversation with Horowitz is praised for Penn silently absorbing the power and privileges of barn boss before embracing the role.
  • Mick’s attempted robbery of Paco’s drug deal is the first most-rewatchable-scene candidate.
  • Rosenthal’s moving camera and yellow street lighting enhance the failed robbery’s strange Chicago atmosphere.
  • Mick’s detention arrival is nominated for the continuous introduction, penalty rules and spit gauntlet; Penn reportedly insisted on real spit.
  • The soda-can beating is nominated as an exceptionally exciting, brutal two-against-one reversal, with the accumulating cans creating anticipation.
  • Mick’s takeover is nominated for reversing the cigarette split, assigning duties and humiliating his former tormentors.
  • Horowitz attacking Viking in the cafeteria is nominated, particularly Mick’s warning as guards approach.
  • Mick and Horowitz escaping is another compelling scene candidate.
  • Paco’s arrival is nominated, but pairing him with Viking is criticized as an obvious administrative failure given both men’s hostility to Mick.
  • Mick asking Peretti for his fighting odds and hearing three-to-two against him is another scene candidate.
  • Viking’s exploding boombox is nominated.
  • Horowitz’s outburst in the warden’s office is nominated.
  • The final fight is a strong candidate because its length and brutality leave the outcome uncertain; the pause suggests possible death before Mick chooses a chance at life outside.
  • The soda-can beating becomes the agreed final scene choice, including its buildup and the subsequent barn-boss transition.

Casting What-Ifs

In the discussion (2)
Approx. transcript time · 00:12:34Read transcript
  • Matt Dillon reportedly wanted the part but was judged too famous; his version would be more conventional or popcorn-oriented, and Cruise would also change the movie.
  • Rosenthal reportedly rejected Dillon because My Bodyguard had covered similar ground and his movie-star recognition could prevent viewers seeing only Mick.

Roger Ebert's review

Rating not yet verified
In the discussion (2)
Approx. transcript time · 00:24:18Read transcript
  • Ebert admired the performances and unromanticized gang world but believed the inevitable showdown prevented greatness; the hosts disagree with his objection to the ending. No numerical rating or scale is spoken in this passage.
  • Ebert predicted important careers for Penn, Morales and Rosenthal, with potential for supporting actors as well.

The Stephen A. Smith Hottest Take Award

More roles for Morales; J.C.’s father fails her

In the discussion (2)
Approx. transcript time · 00:25:45Read transcript
  • An early hot take argues that Esai Morales deserved far more substantial roles and would have had more opportunities in a later era; La Bamba, NYPD Blue and the forthcoming Mission: Impossible are cited.
  • The hot take calls J.C.’s father an exceptionally bad parent for not removing her from the danger around Mick; relocating the family is proposed.

What’s Aged the Best?

Hierarchy; point system; mother; Daniels; hair; location; Ruck; billboard; obituary; Chicago; insults; nicknames; Horowitz

In the discussion (10)
Approx. transcript time · 00:30:49Read transcript
  • The disciplinary points system is an aged-best choice, with smoking400, fighting700, gang activity1000, sexual harassment1200, drugs/alcohol1500 and running for the fence2000; universal smoking immediately undermines the stated rules.
  • The prison hierarchy has aged well because the film clearly establishes gambling, cigarettes, duties and the institution’s reliance on inmate leaders.
  • Mick’s mother drinking in the bathtub with a man efficiently explains his lack of a stable background and is jokingly proposed for Apex.
  • Daniels is praised for combining credible care, authority and the capacity to control violence.
  • Viking’s blond perm captures a distinctive peak early-1980s hairstyle.
  • The imposing detention location is both an aged-best choice and the scene-stealing-location winner.
  • Young Alan Ruck, the HalloweenII billboard callback and Horowitz reading Tweety’s obituary are additional aged-best choices.
  • Early-1980s Chicago is praised as a setting shared with My Bodyguard, Risky Business, Thief and The Blues Brothers; a Mick-and-Thief crossover is imagined.
  • Viking’s forceful use of an insult and the memorable Viking/Tweety nicknames have aged well.
  • Eric Gurry’s Horowitz is praised as the entertaining guide to detention life, with his alarming bowling-alley story later paying off in the boombox attack.

Picking Nits

Paco placement; conspicuous drugs; soda weapons/branding; escape penalty; crime films; unlocked doors

In the discussion (7)
Approx. transcript time · 00:34:21Read transcript
  • Paco’s arrival is nominated, but pairing him with Viking is criticized as an obvious administrative failure given both men’s hostility to Mick.
  • Paco’s crew openly carrying a conspicuous drug suitcase through downtown Chicago is criticized.
  • A soda machine in detention is questioned because cans can become weapons; the generic cans used in the beating prompt speculation that RC Cola permitted its machine but not branded violence.
  • Mick’s escape seemingly adding no time to his sentence is questioned, along with the consequences for Horowitz’s office assault.
  • Showing juvenile inmates old crime movies and leaving cell doors unlocked are criticized.
  • The lack of a safer placement for Paco remains a nitpick.
  • Weapons hidden under radiators and Horowitz openly repairing electronics expose weak searches and limited investigation.

Apex Mountain

Rosenthal’s opportunity; exploding boomboxes; Eric Gurry; booger in beans; RC Cola and machines; juvenile-detention films

In the discussion (13)
Approx. transcript time · 00:38:52Read transcript
  • Mick’s mother drinking in the bathtub with a man efficiently explains his lack of a stable background and is jokingly proposed for Apex.
  • Young Penn’s Apex is unresolved between this breakthrough and At Close Range.
  • Rosenthal’s peak opportunity follows this film: he reportedly rejected twenty or twenty-two offers before American Dreamer failed and the calls stopped.
  • Santoni’s Apex is assigned to Seinfeld.
  • Clancy Brown’s sadistic-prison-character peak is assigned to Shawshank.
  • Exploding boomboxes receive an affirmative Apex choice.
  • Eric Gurry receives an affirmative Apex choice.
  • Brown’s Shawshank character is corrected to Captain Hadley.
  • Morales’s Apex is assigned La Bamba, with NYPD Blue also acknowledged.
  • The blond perm is assigned to basketball player Sikma rather than Viking.
  • Boogers in green beans receive an affirmative Apex choice.
  • RC Cola and its machines receive an affirmative Apex choice.
  • Juvenile-detention movies receive an affirmative Apex choice.

Half-Assed Internet Research

Gurry’s second career; ankle injury; Cagney premise; teeth; photographs; spit; police; Kiss of Death; Curtis cameo

In the discussion (9)
Approx. transcript time · 00:44:22Read transcript
  • Gurry reportedly left acting for investment work, explaining his short filmography; the hosts regret losing a potential great character actor.
  • Penn’s ankle injury during the escape reportedly halted filming for three months.
  • A producer called Richard Solo in the transcript reportedly requested a modern reform-school story in the Jimmy Cagney tradition from writer Richard Di Lello.
  • Penn reportedly wanted his teeth filed and capped to look damaged, but his mother intervened.
  • The opening photographs reportedly depict the actors in real life.
  • Penn wanted real spitting, while Morales requested oral hygiene precautions.
  • Penn reportedly accompanied Chicago police to observe street life and was roughed up by an officer who mistook him for a criminal.
  • The inmates watch Kiss of Death.
  • Jamie Lee Curtis reportedly has an early street cameo.

The Slow Ride / Kid Cudi – Pursuit of Happiness Award for Best Needle Drop

Viking’s pre-explosion song; Tweety’s departure song (titles unstated)

In the discussion (2)
Approx. transcript time · 00:45:36Read transcript
  • The unidentified song Viking enjoys immediately before his boombox explodes is one needle-drop choice.
  • The song playing as Tweety leaves with his friends in a brown van is the other needle-drop choice; its title is not established beyond the quoted star refrain.

The Great Shot Gordo Award for Most Cinematic Shot

Final wide shot; reform-school arrival take

In the discussion (2)
Approx. transcript time · 00:47:13Read transcript
  • The wide final shot of Mick walking back while inmates reassemble the room and release the guards is one cinematic-shot choice.
  • The continuous shot introducing Mick and the younger inmate to reform school is the other cinematic-shot choice.

The Butch’s Girlfriend Award for the Weakest Link in the Film

Mick’s abruptly curtailed escape visit

In the discussion (1)
Approx. transcript time · 00:47:33Read transcript
  • Mick’s escape visit to his assaulted girlfriend is the weak-link choice because it ends almost immediately in capture; the mutual revenge motivation and Penn’s reaction to her face are defended as useful payoffs.

What’s Aged the Worst?

Steering; title confusion; boomboxes; Scum similarities; sexual-assault scene

In the discussion (5)
Approx. transcript time · 00:49:04Read transcript
  • The car’s apparent inability to turn away from Paco’s brother is an aged-worst choice, with both driver and child faulted in the staging.
  • The title has aged poorly because the later Bad Boys creates confusion.
  • Boomboxes are considered dated because phones have replaced them.
  • Similarities to the 1979 British detention film Scum are discussed, especially a pillowcase containing pool balls used in a beating; influence is strongly suspected, not documented firsthand.
  • The prolonged sexual-assault scene has aged poorly and is the bathroom-break choice; its slasher-like buildup is considered excessively brutal despite making Paco hateful.

Best Race Horse Name from This Movie

Soda Can Beating; Mick O’Brien; Smacks; Barn Boss

In the discussion (1)
Approx. transcript time · 01:03:52Read transcript
  • Racehorse-name candidates are Soda Can Beating, Mick O’Brien, Smacks and Barn Boss; Mick O’Brien is joked to sound like a trainer, and Barn Boss receives approval.

Sequel, Prequel, Limited Series, or All-Black Remake

Prestige television; older Mick/Paco sequel

In the discussion (2)
Approx. transcript time · 01:06:54Read transcript
  • A long-running prestige television juvenile-detention drama is the favored adaptation, compared with Oz and other series’ partial treatment of the setting.
  • Sequel possibilities include Mick finding J.C. gone, renewed conflict with Paco, the two men returning as rehabilitative prison staff or meeting again as older prisoners.

Is This Movie Better With…?

Wayne Jenkins as Mick

In the discussion (1)
Approx. transcript time · 01:07:43Read transcript
  • Wayne Jenkins as Mick is the better-with choice, with his reaction to Horowitz’s explosive boombox imagined.

Probably Unanswerable Questions

Oz influence; Gurry; Horowitz podcast; sequel; solitary tradeoff; Viking’s injuries

In the discussion (5)
Approx. transcript time · 01:08:02Read transcript
  • The idea that Bad Boys created Oz is rejected; Gurry’s departure from acting remains emotionally puzzling despite the known business career.
  • Horowitz’s narration-like charisma inspires the idea of giving him a podcast.
  • Sequel possibilities include Mick finding J.C. gone, renewed conflict with Paco, the two men returning as rehabilitative prison staff or meeting again as older prisoners.
  • The tradeoff between four weeks in solitary and four additional months is debated, with the longer sentence tentatively preferred after considering isolation without internet access.
  • Viking’s injuries, possible blindness and recovery after the explosion remain unresolved; his apparent age is jokingly compared with an overgrown youth athlete.

Producer review

Horowitz wins; stronger after detention arrival

In the discussion (3)
Approx. transcript time · 01:14:27Read transcript
  • The producer explicitly chooses Horowitz as his own winner and wants a spinoff.
  • The producer found the opening slightly cheesy but became fully engaged by the detention ensemble; trimming the first thirty minutes to twenty is supported.
  • Penn’s believable roughness is contrasted with more manufactured contemporary leading-man images, with Harrison Ford and Jeff Bridges as comparable older stars.

More from the conversation

The 1983 Sean Penn film is distinguished from the more commercially prominent 1995 namesake; its fading reputation is surprising given its importance as an early Penn lead.
Approx. transcript time · 00:02:25Read transcript
Penn’s emergence is placed alongside Cruise in Risky Business, Timothy Hutton and Matt Dillon as a new generation of young actors.
Approx. transcript time · 00:02:48Read transcript
The grim tone and juvenile-detention subject matter make it less accessible than Risky Business; Rosenthal’s direction and the performances elevate material that could resemble an exaggerated television cautionary drama.
Approx. transcript time · 00:03:59Read transcript
The film’s movement toward a Penn–Morales showdown resembles a sports underdog structure while immersing viewers in detention hierarchies, work duties, compromised guards and limited prospects after release.
Approx. transcript time · 00:05:18Read transcript
The boys’ improvised social order recalls Lord of the Flies, while teenage rage and adventure-story elements explain its formative appeal alongside films such as The Basketball Diaries.
Approx. transcript time · 00:07:09Read transcript
Penn’s combination of physical credibility, intelligence and darkness is considered unusually difficult for another young actor to reproduce.
Approx. transcript time · 00:08:05Read transcript
Penn is preferred when serving a strong ensemble or story, as in State of Grace, Carlito’s Way, At Close Range, this film and Fast Times, rather than announcing a showcase performance; Mick is especially physical and observant.
Approx. transcript time · 00:09:10Read transcript
Penn’s battered physical appearance and immersion make Mick believable; his broken ankle reportedly interrupted filming.
Approx. transcript time · 00:13:33Read transcript
Imagined on-set cigarette demands exaggerate Penn’s commitment; the comments are joking speculation, not verified production details.
Approx. transcript time · 00:14:33Read transcript
This film is proposed as Penn’s true arrival after the promise of Taps and Fast Times.
Approx. transcript time · 00:14:59Read transcript
Arrival-film examples include Penn here, Cruise in Risky Business, DiCaprio in This Boy’s Life rather than Gilbert Grape, Crowe in either L.A. Confidential or Virtuosity, Chalamet in Call Me by Your Name, Roberts in Mystic Pizza and Bullock in Love Potion No.9.
Approx. transcript time · 00:15:28Read transcript
Penn’s forceful acting is considered portable across eras, recalling Cagney, Cassavetes, Pacino and De Niro and giving his generation its own major dramatic actor.
Approx. transcript time · 00:17:02Read transcript
Penn’s early dramatic run, the distracting Madonna marriage period and later adult roles form distinct career phases; DiCaprio’s Titanic fame is compared with the Madonna interruption.
Approx. transcript time · 00:19:10Read transcript
Penn is criticized for rarely choosing a straightforward crowd-pleasing blockbuster despite having the ability; a hypothetical Bourne or A Few Good Men illustrates how his intense approach would change familiar roles.
Approx. transcript time · 00:20:35Read transcript
Competition among the young 1980s actors, including Lowe, Estevez and Sheen, is recalled through memoirs and oral histories, with abundant roles and drug use shaping the cohort.
Approx. transcript time · 00:22:59Read transcript
The film introduced or showcased Ally Sheedy, Clancy Brown and Alan Ruck, whose later careers make the ensemble notable.
Approx. transcript time · 00:23:55Read transcript
The reported budget and gross are five million and9.2million dollars; Bill Conti’s score connects the film with Rocky, while Rosenthal’s post-HalloweenII career did not fulfill expectations.
Approx. transcript time · 00:26:29Read transcript
The film combines juvenile-gang adventure, seventies crime realism and Carpenter-like darkness; its Chicago opening, detention hierarchy and Morales’s arrival each create a new phase.
Approx. transcript time · 00:26:50Read transcript
The episode marks the first recording after Tom Sizemore’s death and remembers his valued Rewatchables performances.
Approx. transcript time · 00:45:05Read transcript
The full closing producer credit is transcribed Craig Horrell back, to reconcile with the official full producer name.
Approx. transcript time · 01:17:20Read transcript