There's only one person left who believes Mick O'Brien can make it... Mick O'Brien.
Mick O'Brien is a young Chicago street thug torn between a life of petty crime and the love of his girlfriend. But when the heist of a local drug dealer goes tragically wrong Mick is sentenced to a brutal juvenile prison where violence is a rite of passage and respect is measured in vengeance.
Sean Penn
Mick O'Brien
Reni Santoni
Ramon Herrera
Jim Moody
Gene Daniels
Eric Gurry
Horowitz
Esai Morales
Paco Moreno
Ally Sheedy
J. C. Walenski
Clancy Brown
Viking Lofgren
Robert Lee Rush
Tweety
John Zenda
Wagner
Tony Mockus Jr.
Warden Bendix
Alan Ruck
Carl Brennan
Erik Barefield
Terrell
Dean Fortunato
Perretti
Lawrence Mah
Ricky Lee
Jorge Noa
Carlos
Ray Caballero
Pablo
Martha De La Cruz
Mrs. Moreno
Ray Ramirez
Mr. Moreno
Eugene J. Anthony
Robert Walenski
Marco A. David
Pacito
Director
Rick Rosenthal
Writers
Richard Di Lello
Bruce Surtees
Director of Photography
Bill Conti
Original Music Composer
Jay Hurley
Costume Design
J. Michael Riva
Production Design
Mickey Antonetti
Costume Design
Antony Gibbs
Editor
Bazzjazz
5/8/2018
Being an early favorite of when I first discovered the potential of Sean Penn. Really gritty film centered around some youths that are ‘raging against the machine’ and learned to fend for themselves on the street. It’s a good film if you can appreciate it in it’s own time and merit.
CinemaSerf
11/28/2022
Sean Penn is "O'Brien" who is sent down for the accidental killing of an eight year old lad. His time in prison subjects him to the usual pressures and bullying but he allies with the shrewd electronics whizz "Horowitz" (Eric Gurry) and slowly but surely starts to learn the ropes, turn the tables and thrive. When he learns that the older brother of the dead boy has seriously assaulted his girlfriend "JC" (a few, sparing, contributions from Ally Sheedy) and is now incarcerated in the same institution, a deadly reckoning is on the cards with "Paco" (Esai Morales). Penn never did shy away from the grittier roles and here he carries off his part quite efficiently, though without much sparkle, but the rest of the cast - especially prison scumbag "Lofgren" (the always one-dimensional Clancy Brown) - really only make up the numbers as this predictable and rather plodding two hours of slowly building revenge drama heads to it's inevitable conclusion. It might have been more impactful at the time, but forty years on it is a wordy variation on a well travelled theme that is easy to watch and just as easy to forget.
RobMcJ
11/6/2023
Originally watched this on TV (WUTV Buffalo 29) and I vividly remembered the soda can scene - (although I thought he put them in a sock) plus the performances of Sean Penn and Esai Morales. I did not remember a young Ally Sheedy, Clancy Brown and Alan Ruck.
