Colors

COLORS (18)

D: Dennis Hopper

Orion (Robert H. Solo)

USA 🇺🇸 1988

120 mins

Crime/Drama

W: Michael Schiffer

DP: Haskell Wexler

Ed: Robert Estrin

Mus: Herbie Hancock

Sean Penn (Danny McGavin), Robert Duvall (Bob Hodges), Maria Conchita Alonso (Louisa Gomez), Randy Brooks (Ron Delaney), Grand L. Bush (Larry Sylvester), Don Cheadle (Rocket), Gerardo Mejia (Bird), Glenn Plummer (Clarence "High Top" Brown)

Pre-dating Boyz N The Hood by a couple of years, Colors tells a similar story from the perspective of LAPD cops attempting to calm the hostilities between rival gangs in the Los Angeles suburbs (much akin to the infamous crips & bloods rivalry).

This is possibly the movie which gave Sean Penn his bad boy image and his on-screen duo with Robert Duvall is a good-cop, bad-cop partnership which, while clichéd, does work very well. Considering this is directed by Dennis Hopper, you'd be forgiven to expect a much grittier, violent thriller, but it's still a very decent watch and still has relevance 25 years following its release.

7/10