I was very young when I saw this film about L.A. gangs. Typically, for the time, this film about black and Hispanic gang culture actually has two white leads. Colors stars Sean Penn and Robert Duval. So, you’d say it’s a cop film, but it does have some great performances from black and Hispanic actors, in smaller roles.
So, it’s an old cop/young cop movie. Robert Duval’s character has some wise words of hard earned wisdom for Sean Penn’s character who basically doesn’t listen. When I saw this I was a very young kid, and I associated with Penn’s character (it’s a good performance). Now I’m in my 40s I associate with Duval’s older character. The director of the film is Dennis Hopper, who was making a comeback after years of drug and alcohol trouble.
The film is very well directed and photographed, and a good mix of action and well written character development. Of course, it’s a little by-the-numbers but it has enough intelligent observation to make this film a keeper, and into my list of 100 films you should see.
The trailer is below…
So, 5 films to go…
Matthew Cooper has written for most of the UK soaps, including writing episodes of Emmerdale, Eastenders, Hollyoaks and Family Affairs. Matthew was winner of the Lloyds Bank Channel Four Film Challenge, the Oscar Moore Screenplay Prize and has been BAFTA shortlisted and Royal TV Society nominated. He’s been a script consultant and script writer for hire for over 20 years. You can find some of his broadcast credits on the IMDb.