Colors

1988 Crime Drama

Colors stars Robert Duvall and Sean Penn as partners on the LAPD's gang crime division. Duvall had hoped to spend more time with his family, but he's pulled back into active service because of a step-up in gang activity. He makes no secret of his contempt for his novice partner Penn, but eventually comes to rely on the younger man as a valuable street contact. The central crisis is the battle for supremacy between the "Crips" and the "Bloods", with every effort to call a truce stymied by the gang members themselves and by undue police intervention.

Director: Dennis Hopper

Starring: Robert Duvall,Sean Penn, Maria Conchita Alonzo, Randy Brooks, Grand L. Bush

 17 Reviews  1 Awards

Reviews

  • It's an exhilarating sparring match between Duvall's workmanlike fine-tuning and Penn's raw energy.

    Desson Thomson - The Washington Post

    19 January 2013

  • A special movie - not just a police thriller, but a movie that has researched gangs and given some thought to what it wants to say about them.

    Roger Ebert - The Chicago Sun-Times

    19 January 2013

  • Sean Penn and Robert Duvall basically played the Two Faces of Dennis: hyper young firebrand and cautious older lion.

    Ty Burr - Entertainment Weekly

    19 January 2013

  • The only scene that takes a stab at saying something about the root causes of the violence is the weakest. At a poorly attended community meeting called by the police to urge residents to speak up when they witness a crime, one black Vietnam veteran angrily mentions the lack of jobs.

    - The San Francisco Chronicle

    19 January 2013

  • Even and assured, Colors may not descend to the sloppy, indulgent depths of ''Easy Rider'' and ''The Last Movie,'' but neither does it rise to the delirious, dangerous heights of those films.

    Dave Kehr - The Chicago Tribune

    19 January 2013

Awards

  • Herbie Hancock

    BMI Film & TV Awards (1989)

Lists

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