Bad Boys (1995 film)
Encyclopedia
Bad Boys is a 1995 American action comedy film directed by Michael Bay
in his directorial debut, and produced by Don Simpson
and Jerry Bruckheimer
. The film, starring Martin Lawrence
and Will Smith
, spawned a 2003 sequel, Bad Boys II
.
) and Mike Lowrey (Will Smith
) are best friends and detectives in the narcotics division of the Miami-Dade Police Department
. One night, $100 million of seized heroin is stolen from a secure police vault. This is a major blow to Burnett and Lowrey, because it was the biggest drug bust of their careers. Internal Affairs
warns Miami PD that if they do not recover the drugs in five days the narcotics division will be shut down.
One thief, a former cop named Eddie Domínguez, is found dead at a hotel suite, shot to death by his boss, French
drug kingpin Fouchet. Fouchet also kills an escort
, Maxine "Max" Logan, who was hired by Eddie. It is revealed that she is also one of Lowrey's ex-girlfriends and one of his major informants. The only witness to the crime is Max's best friend Julie Mott (Téa Leoni
), who watched the crime from the upper balcony of the suite.
Although she has not met Mike, because of Max's relationship with him Julie will only trust and deal with Lowrey. However, he is away when she contacts the police about the murders, threatening to run if she does not speak to Mike. Captain Howard (Joe Pantoliano
) forces Burnett to impersonate Lowrey to get Julie to cooperate. In order to continue the deception, Burnett and Lowrey switch lives. Burnett tells his family he is going to Cleveland for a case, leaving Mike to stay with them. Burnett then moves into Lowrey's apartment with Julie and her dogs. In Julie's presence, Burnett poses as Lowrey while Mike poses as Burnett.
The investigation proceeds with Lowrey and Burnett calling in on their old informants, including Jojo (Michael Imperioli
), a former chemist who now works at a tire store. Later, Julie identifies one of Max's killers, Noah, while looking through mug shots. The two cops then head off to Club Hell, one of his known hangouts. Unbeknownst to them, Julie has followed, eager to dish out revenge on Max's killers. Her presence alerts the criminals, resulting in Noah fleeing. After a brief fight and car chase, Noah is killed. The incident is caught on camera by a news helicopter. The subsequent report is later seen by Burnett's family.
Lowrey and Burnett decide to visit Jojo again. After an aggressive and convincing good cop-bad cop act
from Lowrey and Burnett, Jojo tells them the location of the chemist who is cutting the stolen drugs. After staking out his house, they follow him to where Fouchet is hiding the drugs. They return to Mike's apartment with Julie, where they are confronted by Marcus' wife who blows their cover, causing Julie to try and run. Fouchet and his gang arrive at Lowrey's apartment and kidnap Julie. Because of this, Internal Affairs reassigns all members of the narcotics division, effectively shutting them down, but Captain Howard delays the order to give Lowrey and Burnett a chance to get Julie and the drugs back.
Burnett, Lowrey and two other members of the Miami P.D. (Sanchez and Ruiz) organize a plan to stop the criminals from killing Julie and selling the drugs. A final shoot-out erupts between the group of cops and the drug dealers at an abandoned air field. Burnett is shot in the leg after saving Julie from Fouchet. Fouchet also shoots Lowrey while escaping the building, which is now on fire, but he is rescued by Burnett and Julie who left to get Lowrey's car.
The cops and Julie chase Fouchet's Shelby Cobra AC 427 in Mike's Porsche 911 Turbo. After Burnett bumps him off the road, Fouchet crashes but manages to escape the wreckage. Attempting to run, Fouchet is shot in the leg by Lowrey. Fouchet, knowing he is beaten, tries to goad Lowrey into killing him, which he almost does as revenge for Max's murder, until Burnett prevents it. While on the ground Fouchet then pulls out a concealed weapon and aims at Burnett, but seeing the reflection on his partner's forehead, Lowrey spins and shoots Fouchet numerous times, killing him.
Later, after Marcus and Mike profess their mutual platonic love for one another and their relief in surviving the gun fight, Marcus handcuffs Julie and Mike's hands together and hobbles away hoping for some much needed "quality time" with his wife.
and Jon Lovitz
in the roles. When the film was written for Carvey and Lovitz, the original title for Bad Boys was Bulletproof Hearts.
Both Martin Lawrence and Will Smith were starring in their own hit TV shows, Martin
and The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air
when filming this film. The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air even references the film in an episode. In season 6 episode 20 called 'I Stank Horse', Nicholas 'Nikky' Banks tells Will that his parents will not let him watch 'Bad Boys' to which Will replies "oh, whatcha gonna do?" On Lawrence's series, Martin
, Martin says his friends where Tommy and Cole watches TV "Not one channel in English? What's This "The Fresh Prince of Beirut?" on the Season 5 episode "Working Girls" which was aired in 1996.
The scene in the convenience store where the clerk puts a gun to Burnett and Lowrey's heads and tells them to "Freeze, bitch!" is also improvised. They came up with "No, you freeze, bitch! Now back up, put the gun down and get me a pack of Tropical Fruit Bubbalicious". "And some Skittles."
According to Michael Bay in the DVD commentary, at the end of the film when Mike (Smith) and Marcus (Lawrence) are recuperating, Mike says "I love you, man." Bay claims that Smith refused to say the line, causing the director and actor to argue back and forth over the line. Bay wanted Smith to say the line as he felt it summed up the friendship between the cops. After their argument had lasted for half of the day's shoot and much of the crew was ready to pack up, a fed up Bay told Smith to do whatever he wanted, after which Smith changed his mind and agreed to say the line.
reported that 39% of 41 sampled critics gave the film positive reviews and that it got a rating average of 4.8 out of 10. Most of the criticisms focused on the fact that despite the production of the film and the ability of the stars, the script did not diverge from the generic plot of a cop-buddy
genre film, instead opting for repeated use of formulaic scenes.
Roger Ebert
in his video review of the film on At the Movies noted that despite the highly energetic approach of the two lead actors and the visual style of the film, their acting talents were mostly "new wine in old bottles". He illustrated that many of the elements featured in the film including both the plot and characters had been recycled from other films, particularly those from the Lethal Weapon
and Beverly Hills Cop
series -- recurrent stock-characters, police detective clichés and over-long action scenes. In describing the archetypal cop-buddy genre action scene adhered to by the film, Ebert noted "Whenever a movie like this starts to drag, there's always one infallible solution; have a car-chase and then blow something up real good."
Gene Siskel
in his appraisal of the film said that he had lost interest in the film after its introduction due to the very formulaic approach, and repeated Roger Ebert's criticism that the talents of the lead actors were wasted; suggesting that the production company did not spend significant time producing a script which would be suitable for their talents.
Michael Bay
Michael Benjamin Bay is an American film director and producer. He is known for directing high-budget action films characterized by their fast edits, stylistic visuals and substantial practical special effects...
in his directorial debut, and produced by Don Simpson
Don Simpson
Donald Clarence "Don" Simpson was an American film producer, screenwriter, and actor. He is known for producing such hits as Flashdance, Beverly Hills Cop, Top Gun and The Rock...
and Jerry Bruckheimer
Jerry Bruckheimer
Jerome Leon "Jerry" Bruckheimer is an American film and television producer. He has achieved great success in the genres of action, drama, and science fiction. His best known television series are CSI: Crime Scene Investigation, CSI: Miami, CSI: NY, Eleventh Hour, Without a Trace, Cold Case, The...
. The film, starring Martin Lawrence
Martin Lawrence
Martin Fitzgerald Lawrence is an American actor, film director, film producer, screenwriter, and stand up comedian. He came to fame during the 1990s, establishing a Hollywood career as a leading actor, most notably the films Bad Boys, Blue Streak, and Big Momma's House...
and Will Smith
Will Smith
Willard Christopher "Will" Smith, Jr. , also known by his stage name The Fresh Prince, is an American actor, producer, and rapper. He has enjoyed success in television, film and music. In April 2007, Newsweek called him the most powerful actor in Hollywood...
, spawned a 2003 sequel, Bad Boys II
Bad Boys II
Bad Boys II is a 2003 action/comedy film directed by Michael Bay, produced by Jerry Bruckheimer, and starring Martin Lawrence and Will Smith. It is a sequel to the 1995 film Bad Boys. The film is about two police detectives investigating the flow of ecstasy into Miami...
.
Plot
Marcus Burnett (Martin LawrenceMartin Lawrence
Martin Fitzgerald Lawrence is an American actor, film director, film producer, screenwriter, and stand up comedian. He came to fame during the 1990s, establishing a Hollywood career as a leading actor, most notably the films Bad Boys, Blue Streak, and Big Momma's House...
) and Mike Lowrey (Will Smith
Will Smith
Willard Christopher "Will" Smith, Jr. , also known by his stage name The Fresh Prince, is an American actor, producer, and rapper. He has enjoyed success in television, film and music. In April 2007, Newsweek called him the most powerful actor in Hollywood...
) are best friends and detectives in the narcotics division of the Miami-Dade Police Department
Miami-Dade Police Department
The Miami-Dade Police Department , formerly known as the Metro-Dade County Police Department , Dade County Public Safety Department and the Dade County Sheriff's Office is a Limited Service County Police Department serving Miami-Dade County, Florida's unincorporated areas, although they have...
. One night, $100 million of seized heroin is stolen from a secure police vault. This is a major blow to Burnett and Lowrey, because it was the biggest drug bust of their careers. Internal Affairs
Internal affairs (law enforcement)
The internal affairs division of a law enforcement agency investigates incidents and plausible suspicions of lawbreaking and professional misconduct attributed to officers on the force...
warns Miami PD that if they do not recover the drugs in five days the narcotics division will be shut down.
One thief, a former cop named Eddie Domínguez, is found dead at a hotel suite, shot to death by his boss, French
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
drug kingpin Fouchet. Fouchet also kills an escort
Call girl
A call girl or female escort is a sex worker who is not visible to the general public; nor does she usually work in an institution like a brothel, although she may be employed by an escort agency...
, Maxine "Max" Logan, who was hired by Eddie. It is revealed that she is also one of Lowrey's ex-girlfriends and one of his major informants. The only witness to the crime is Max's best friend Julie Mott (Téa Leoni
Téa Leoni
Elizabeth Téa Pantaleoni , better known by her stage name Téa Leoni, is an American actress. She has starred in a wide range of films including Jurassic Park III, The Family Man, Deep Impact, Fun with Dick and Jane, Spanglish, Bad Boys, and Ghost Town.-Early life:Leoni was born in New York City...
), who watched the crime from the upper balcony of the suite.
Although she has not met Mike, because of Max's relationship with him Julie will only trust and deal with Lowrey. However, he is away when she contacts the police about the murders, threatening to run if she does not speak to Mike. Captain Howard (Joe Pantoliano
Joe Pantoliano
Joseph Peter "Joe" Pantoliano is an American film and television actor. He played the character of Ralph Cifaretto on The Sopranos, Bob Keane in La Bamba, Cypher in The Matrix, Teddy in Memento, Francis Fratelli in The Goonies, Guido "the Killer Pimp" in Risky Business, and Jennifer Tilly's...
) forces Burnett to impersonate Lowrey to get Julie to cooperate. In order to continue the deception, Burnett and Lowrey switch lives. Burnett tells his family he is going to Cleveland for a case, leaving Mike to stay with them. Burnett then moves into Lowrey's apartment with Julie and her dogs. In Julie's presence, Burnett poses as Lowrey while Mike poses as Burnett.
The investigation proceeds with Lowrey and Burnett calling in on their old informants, including Jojo (Michael Imperioli
Michael Imperioli
James Michael Imperioli , commonly known as Michael Imperioli, is an American actor and television writer. He is perhaps best known for his role as Christopher Moltisanti on The Sopranos for which he won the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series in 2004. He also...
), a former chemist who now works at a tire store. Later, Julie identifies one of Max's killers, Noah, while looking through mug shots. The two cops then head off to Club Hell, one of his known hangouts. Unbeknownst to them, Julie has followed, eager to dish out revenge on Max's killers. Her presence alerts the criminals, resulting in Noah fleeing. After a brief fight and car chase, Noah is killed. The incident is caught on camera by a news helicopter. The subsequent report is later seen by Burnett's family.
Lowrey and Burnett decide to visit Jojo again. After an aggressive and convincing good cop-bad cop act
Good cop/Bad cop
Good cop/bad cop, known in British military circles as Mutt and Jeff and also called joint questioning and friend and foe, is a psychological tactic used for interrogation....
from Lowrey and Burnett, Jojo tells them the location of the chemist who is cutting the stolen drugs. After staking out his house, they follow him to where Fouchet is hiding the drugs. They return to Mike's apartment with Julie, where they are confronted by Marcus' wife who blows their cover, causing Julie to try and run. Fouchet and his gang arrive at Lowrey's apartment and kidnap Julie. Because of this, Internal Affairs reassigns all members of the narcotics division, effectively shutting them down, but Captain Howard delays the order to give Lowrey and Burnett a chance to get Julie and the drugs back.
Burnett, Lowrey and two other members of the Miami P.D. (Sanchez and Ruiz) organize a plan to stop the criminals from killing Julie and selling the drugs. A final shoot-out erupts between the group of cops and the drug dealers at an abandoned air field. Burnett is shot in the leg after saving Julie from Fouchet. Fouchet also shoots Lowrey while escaping the building, which is now on fire, but he is rescued by Burnett and Julie who left to get Lowrey's car.
The cops and Julie chase Fouchet's Shelby Cobra AC 427 in Mike's Porsche 911 Turbo. After Burnett bumps him off the road, Fouchet crashes but manages to escape the wreckage. Attempting to run, Fouchet is shot in the leg by Lowrey. Fouchet, knowing he is beaten, tries to goad Lowrey into killing him, which he almost does as revenge for Max's murder, until Burnett prevents it. While on the ground Fouchet then pulls out a concealed weapon and aims at Burnett, but seeing the reflection on his partner's forehead, Lowrey spins and shoots Fouchet numerous times, killing him.
Later, after Marcus and Mike profess their mutual platonic love for one another and their relief in surviving the gun fight, Marcus handcuffs Julie and Mike's hands together and hobbles away hoping for some much needed "quality time" with his wife.
Cast
- Martin LawrenceMartin LawrenceMartin Fitzgerald Lawrence is an American actor, film director, film producer, screenwriter, and stand up comedian. He came to fame during the 1990s, establishing a Hollywood career as a leading actor, most notably the films Bad Boys, Blue Streak, and Big Momma's House...
as Det. Marcus Burnett - Will SmithWill SmithWillard Christopher "Will" Smith, Jr. , also known by his stage name The Fresh Prince, is an American actor, producer, and rapper. He has enjoyed success in television, film and music. In April 2007, Newsweek called him the most powerful actor in Hollywood...
as Det. Mike Lowrey - Téa LeoniTéa LeoniElizabeth Téa Pantaleoni , better known by her stage name Téa Leoni, is an American actress. She has starred in a wide range of films including Jurassic Park III, The Family Man, Deep Impact, Fun with Dick and Jane, Spanglish, Bad Boys, and Ghost Town.-Early life:Leoni was born in New York City...
as Julie Mott - Tchéky KaryoTchéky Karyo-Early life:Karyo was born in Istanbul to a Greek mother and Sephardic-Jewish father and raised in Paris, France. He studied drama at the Cyrano Theatre and later became a member of the Daniel Sorano Company, playing many classical roles.-Career:...
as Fouchet - Joe PantolianoJoe PantolianoJoseph Peter "Joe" Pantoliano is an American film and television actor. He played the character of Ralph Cifaretto on The Sopranos, Bob Keane in La Bamba, Cypher in The Matrix, Teddy in Memento, Francis Fratelli in The Goonies, Guido "the Killer Pimp" in Risky Business, and Jennifer Tilly's...
as Captain Conrad Howard - Emmanuel Xuereb as Eddie Dominguez
- Nestor SerranoNestor SerranoNestor Serrano is an American film and television actor. He often portrays authority figures on both sides of the law.Serrano began his acting career in off-Broadway plays in the late 1970s. His first film was the 1986 Tom Hanks comedy The Money Pit...
as Detective Sanchez - Julio Oscar MechosoJulio Oscar MechosoJulio Oscar Mechoso is an American actor. He is occasionally credited as Julio Mechoso.Mechoso is a character actor in both television and film. He has appeared in several high-profile films, such as Grindhouse, Bad Boys and the controversial Ken Park. His television credits include Miami Vice,...
as Detective Ruiz - Theresa RandleTheresa RandleTheresa E. Randle is an American stage, film and television actress.Randle was born in Los Angeles, California. She began her performing career by studying dance and comedy. She entered Beverly Hills College with a special program for the exceptionally gifted...
as Theresa Burnett - John SalleyJohn SalleyJohn Thomas "Spider" Salley is a retired American professional basketball player, actor and talk show host. He was the first player in NBA history to play on three different championship-winning franchises....
as Fletcher - Marg HelgenbergerMarg HelgenbergerMary Marg Helgenberger is an American film and television actress known for her roles as Catherine Willows in the CBS drama CSI: Crime Scene Investigation, and as K.C...
as Capt. Alison Sinclair - Michael ImperioliMichael ImperioliJames Michael Imperioli , commonly known as Michael Imperioli, is an American actor and television writer. He is perhaps best known for his role as Christopher Moltisanti on The Sopranos for which he won the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series in 2004. He also...
as Jojo
Production
In the film's early stages of development, Don Simpson and Jerry Bruckheimer initially envisioned Dana CarveyDana Carvey
Dana Thomas Carvey is an American actor and stand-up comedian, best known for his work as a cast member on Saturday Night Live and for playing the role of Garth in the Wayne's World movies.-Early life:...
and Jon Lovitz
Jon Lovitz
Jonathan "Jon" Lovitz is an American comedian, actor, and singer. He is best known as a cast member of the NBC sketch comedy show Saturday Night Live from 1985 to 1990.-Early life:...
in the roles. When the film was written for Carvey and Lovitz, the original title for Bad Boys was Bulletproof Hearts.
Both Martin Lawrence and Will Smith were starring in their own hit TV shows, Martin
Martin (TV series)
Martin is an American sitcom produced by HBO Independent Productions that aired for five seasons, from August 27, 1992 to May 1, 1997 on Fox...
and The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air
The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air
The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air is an American television sitcom that originally aired on NBC from September 10, 1990 to May 20, 1996. The show stars Will Smith as a fictionalized version of himself, a street-smart teenager from West Philadelphia who is sent to move in with his aunt and uncle in their...
when filming this film. The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air even references the film in an episode. In season 6 episode 20 called 'I Stank Horse', Nicholas 'Nikky' Banks tells Will that his parents will not let him watch 'Bad Boys' to which Will replies "oh, whatcha gonna do?" On Lawrence's series, Martin
Martin (TV series)
Martin is an American sitcom produced by HBO Independent Productions that aired for five seasons, from August 27, 1992 to May 1, 1997 on Fox...
, Martin says his friends where Tommy and Cole watches TV "Not one channel in English? What's This "The Fresh Prince of Beirut?" on the Season 5 episode "Working Girls" which was aired in 1996.
Improvisation
Director Michael Bay did not like the script and often engaged Will Smith and Martin Lawrence in discussions about how the dialogue and scenes could improve. He often allowed them to improvise while the cameras were rolling. He secretly told Will to call Lawrence a bitch before the car scene. The whole "two bitches in the sea" was improvised, as was Martin's comment when Téa Leoni called him gay.The scene in the convenience store where the clerk puts a gun to Burnett and Lowrey's heads and tells them to "Freeze, bitch!" is also improvised. They came up with "No, you freeze, bitch! Now back up, put the gun down and get me a pack of Tropical Fruit Bubbalicious". "And some Skittles."
According to Michael Bay in the DVD commentary, at the end of the film when Mike (Smith) and Marcus (Lawrence) are recuperating, Mike says "I love you, man." Bay claims that Smith refused to say the line, causing the director and actor to argue back and forth over the line. Bay wanted Smith to say the line as he felt it summed up the friendship between the cops. After their argument had lasted for half of the day's shoot and much of the crew was ready to pack up, a fed up Bay told Smith to do whatever he wanted, after which Smith changed his mind and agreed to say the line.
Reception
The film was commercially successful, grossing $141,407,024 worldwide — $65,807,024 in North America and $75,600,000 in other territories. However, critical reception was generally mixed. Film review aggregating website Rotten TomatoesRotten Tomatoes
Rotten Tomatoes is a website devoted to reviews, information, and news of films—widely known as a film review aggregator. Its name derives from the cliché of audiences throwing tomatoes and other vegetables at a poor stage performance...
reported that 39% of 41 sampled critics gave the film positive reviews and that it got a rating average of 4.8 out of 10. Most of the criticisms focused on the fact that despite the production of the film and the ability of the stars, the script did not diverge from the generic plot of a cop-buddy
Buddy cop film
The "buddy cop" is a subgenre of buddy films and crime films with plots involving two men of very different and conflicting personalities who are forced to work together to solve a crime and/or defeat criminals, sometimes learning from each other in the process...
genre film, instead opting for repeated use of formulaic scenes.
Roger Ebert
Roger Ebert
Roger Joseph Ebert is an American film critic and screenwriter. He is the first film critic to win a Pulitzer Prize for Criticism.Ebert is known for his film review column and for the television programs Sneak Previews, At the Movies with Gene Siskel and Roger Ebert, and Siskel and Ebert and The...
in his video review of the film on At the Movies noted that despite the highly energetic approach of the two lead actors and the visual style of the film, their acting talents were mostly "new wine in old bottles". He illustrated that many of the elements featured in the film including both the plot and characters had been recycled from other films, particularly those from the Lethal Weapon
Lethal Weapon
Lethal Weapon is a 1987 American buddy cop action film and the first in a series of films, all directed by Richard Donner and starring Mel Gibson and Danny Glover as a mismatched pair of LAPD detectives, and Gary Busey as their primary adversary...
and Beverly Hills Cop
Beverly Hills Cop
Beverly Hills Cop is a 1984 American comedy-action film directed by Martin Brest and starring Eddie Murphy, Lisa Eilbacher, John Ashton, Judge Reinhold, and Ronny Cox...
series -- recurrent stock-characters, police detective clichés and over-long action scenes. In describing the archetypal cop-buddy genre action scene adhered to by the film, Ebert noted "Whenever a movie like this starts to drag, there's always one infallible solution; have a car-chase and then blow something up real good."
Gene Siskel
Gene Siskel
Eugene Kal "Gene" Siskel was an American film critic and journalist for the Chicago Tribune. Along with colleague Roger Ebert, he hosted the popular review show Siskel & Ebert At the Movies from 1975 until his death....
in his appraisal of the film said that he had lost interest in the film after its introduction due to the very formulaic approach, and repeated Roger Ebert's criticism that the talents of the lead actors were wasted; suggesting that the production company did not spend significant time producing a script which would be suitable for their talents.
Soundtrack
| Year | Album | Peak chart positions | Certifications | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| U.S. Billboard 200 The Billboard 200 is a ranking of the 200 highest-selling music albums and EPs in the United States, published weekly by Billboard magazine. It is frequently used to convey the popularity of an artist or groups of artists... |
U.S. R&B Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums is a chart published by Billboard magazine that ranks R&B and hip hop albums based on sales compiled by Nielsen SoundScan. The name of the chart was changed from Top R&B Albums in 1999... |
|||
| 1995 | Bad Boys Bad Boys (soundtrack) Bad Boys is the soundtrack to the 1995 action-comedy film, Bad Boys. It was released on March 25, 1995 through Sony Music Entertainment's sub-label, Work Records...
|
26 | 13 |
Recording Industry Association of America The Recording Industry Association of America is a trade organization that represents the recording industry distributors in the United States... : Platinum |