The info ain’t wrong here, this is not the Will Smiff one. We’re dealing with some early 80s, streets of Chicago kinda shit here. Some young punks lurkings about. Robbin’ the townsfolk, getting drugs, buyin guns, stealin cars. So tough, makin their way. White. Hispanic. Black. Don’t matter. This shit here’s the streets! That is, til you get your ass busted and thrown in Juvie Jail.
Mick O’Brien (Sean Penn) is the total disaffected yout. Stealing, hatin the broken family life, juvie record a mile long. His nice little girlfriend wants him to chill out, enjoy life. But being the punk he is, ignores her and goes out on another score. That goes bad. Real bad. Next thing you know, sentenced to Kid Prison (aka the Rainford Juvenile Correctional Facility). A lot of the same elements as prison, just younger cellmates. They all ain’t quite adults, but it’s still all the serious crimes. And he has to deal with that, enemies and friends alike. And not being able to protect his girlfriend on the outside.
Even if this is a “juvenile” subjects, this is basically a prison movie. Well done and shot, good collection of characters all dealing with their own shit. O’Brien, in an obviously early role by Sean Penn (this actually followed his iconic Spicoli performance in Fast Times at Ridgemont High), does good dealing with the conflict and making life decisions, as the Counselor dude lays out. It’s not sugar-coated. Some Tense shit as the story progresses, if maybe a little slowly. With first film roles by Ally Sheedy and Clancy Fkn Brown as Viking (kind of a dick here). More serious than an after-school special, it does still provide some valuable teaching moments, including how to make prison shivs.
