70,000 GANG MEMBERS. ONE MILLION GUNS. TWO COPS.

Veteran L.A. cop Bob Hodges (Robert Duvall), who’s close to retiring, gets a new, younger partner (Sean Penn) and tries to teach him how to handle the city’s gangs.

A report from L.A.’s worst neighborhoods that feels very much here and now at a time when both gang violence and the LAPD were hotly debated. Much of the film focuses on the cops and their experiences; a lot of what they deal with feels hopeless and repetitive, and their diverging methods and temperaments clash.

Engaging thanks to the two leads, authentic locations and Dennis Hopper’s efforts to spice up the realism with an action sequence or two.

1988-U.S. 120 min. Color. Directed by Dennis Hopper. Screenplay: Michael Schiffer. Cast: Sean Penn (Danny McGavin), Robert Duvall (Bob Hodges), María Conchita Alonso (Louisa Gomez), Randy Brooks, Don Cheadle, Glenn Plummer, Damon Wayans… Tony Todd, Mario Lopez, Jack Nance. 

Last word: “The [original draft] didn’t go so well. It was about a white cop and a black cop in Chicago, and it involved gangs – which is where the title, Colors, comes from – but they were selling cough syrup. There was a major bust to stop the terrible cough syrup problem. I said, ‘Give me a break. Make it cocaine, make it real, make it Los Angeles. This wouldn’t even make a bad episode of a television show.’” (Hopper, The Sun Sentinel)