BAD BOYS

As everyone knows, there are no bad boys; there are only bad film makers. When Screenwriter Richard DiLello and Director Rick Rosenthal made this year's film about the tough life of reform-school inmates, they determined to refer not to life but to all the other movies that have preceded them down melodrama's last mile. Sean Penn (memorable as the spaced-out surfer in last year's Fast Times at Ridgemont High) plays the youth who recognizes his own decency and sensitivity about two hours after the audience has been tipped to it. Penn is fine; so are most of his companions in misery. But waiting for this film to embrace every known generic cliche is like serving an indeterminate sentence: you know it has to end but cannot understand why that shouldn't happen a whole lot sooner than it does. This file is automatically generated by a robot program, so viewer discretion is required.