Two Navy officers (Jack Nicholson and Otis Young) are appointed to escort a young sailor (Randy Quaid) to prison after he had stolen 40 dollars from a charity collection box. The boy appears as defenseless, since he is a victim of an unjust sentence and the two officers, moved by his weak personality, decide to take some time to let him discover and appreciate things in life that he would not be able to enjoy during his years in prison.
Nor Nicholson nor Young are heroes in this film: they instead are failed officers who want to redeem their personal satisfaction on showing and teaching Quaid the pleasures of life. That's all they know. By trying to help the young man growing, they end up ruining his future. He contemplates escape only because he's aware that what's expecting him will destroy his pureness.
This film is liberating, because we experience with Quaid the emotions he faces for the first time, and ambiguous, because the efforts of the two officers in leaving in the boy good memories pushes them to question their role and assignment.
Nor Nicholson nor Young are heroes in this film: they instead are failed officers who want to redeem their personal satisfaction on showing and teaching Quaid the pleasures of life. That's all they know. By trying to help the young man growing, they end up ruining his future. He contemplates escape only because he's aware that what's expecting him will destroy his pureness.
This film is liberating, because we experience with Quaid the emotions he faces for the first time, and ambiguous, because the efforts of the two officers in leaving in the boy good memories pushes them to question their role and assignment.