Bad Boys
1983, R, 123 min.
Directed by Rick Rosenthal, Narrated by , Voices by , Starring Sean Penn, Reni Santori, Esai Morales, Ally Sheedy.

I’m not exactly sure what makes this scorching prison potboiler qualify as “something weird.” But in his first movie after Fast Times at Ridgemont High, Sean Penn proved his acting range. He plays a juvenile delinquent accused of killing a gang leader and is sent to adult detention, where he faces the vengeance of the dead man’s brother. This movie focuses on some very bad boys, indeed. (For more on the Something Weird Wednesdays series see austinchronicle.com/issues/dispatch/2001-02-16/screens_feature.html.)

This article appears in July 6 • 2001.

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Marjorie Baumgarten is a film critic and contributing writer at The Austin Chronicle, where she has worked in many capacities since the paper's founding in 1981. She served as the Chronicle's Film Reviews editor for 25 years.