"Colors" is one of those movies that I caught on TV years ago and couldn't remember much about. I just knew it starred Sean Penn as a horrible, puffed up, P. O. C. Brutalising cop, and Robert Duvall as his more level-headed and streetwise partner. I remembered its theme song, though I didn't know it was produced by the legendary Ice-T. I also remembered Damon Wayans providing some out-of-place comic relief.
It's also one of those movies where everything I remembered about it was also everything memorable about it. The script is just too confusing, too hard to follow, with too many gangsters from too many gangs. If they wanted to make a movie immersed in the gang culture of South (and East) Los Angeles, they shouldn't have used the police characters at all.
The movie has quite a few small roles/cameos given to great character actors like Don Cheadle, Jack Nance, Maria Conchita Alonso, and the Candyman himself, Tony Todd... apparently before he developed that amazing voice. These walk-ons gave me something to do while I slogged through the movie. I needed some kind of plot thread to grasp onto instead of freefalling in this maze of characters and unclear motivations. I don't even really know what the movie was about.
It's also one of those movies where everything I remembered about it was also everything memorable about it. The script is just too confusing, too hard to follow, with too many gangsters from too many gangs. If they wanted to make a movie immersed in the gang culture of South (and East) Los Angeles, they shouldn't have used the police characters at all.
The movie has quite a few small roles/cameos given to great character actors like Don Cheadle, Jack Nance, Maria Conchita Alonso, and the Candyman himself, Tony Todd... apparently before he developed that amazing voice. These walk-ons gave me something to do while I slogged through the movie. I needed some kind of plot thread to grasp onto instead of freefalling in this maze of characters and unclear motivations. I don't even really know what the movie was about.
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