Candid cops versus robbers drama .....

Dear Dennis Hopper,

Colors was a pretty candid cops versus robbers drama. I interpreted this film as three different races facing off with each other in the concrete jungle that is LA. The black and Mexican gangs are taking each other on. The white establishment mostly plays them against each other. Some race mixing does take place but inter-racial relationships (like the one between Penn and Alonso) do not really work out in this violent scenario. The film does not delve too deep into why young black and Mexican youths turn to crime. It does not really try to take a political stance or anything. The film's message seems to be that - well, there are these criminals and they need to be eliminated in the most effective way possible. The joke about the two bulls that Duvall tells Penn and then Penn tells the rookie cop in the end seems to emphasize this message.

The whole rookie cop (Sean Penn) clashing with the older mature cop (Robert Duvall) aspect of the film was a bit trite and could have been avoided. The two characters were not very well fleshed out or anything. Frankly, the lives of the gang members belonging to the Bloods and the Crips were more interesting than the interactions between Penn and Duvall. Penn and Duvall's characters were simply not interesting enough. This really affected the film a great deal. This film was nowhere as good as Easy Rider or Out of the Blue, Dennis.

Best Regards,
Pimpin.

(6/10)